


Goody Two Shoes

by Beautiful_Doom



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Remus, Comfort, Deceit needs a hug, Family, Near Death Experience, Other Dark Sides - Freeform, Protective! Deceit, Sympathetic Deceit, protective!Remus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2020-08-19 07:36:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 31,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20206096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Doom/pseuds/Beautiful_Doom
Summary: Thomas has decided he's not going to lie anymore, unaware of what that's doing to Deceit. Unwilling to let his loved one suffer and die, Remus confronts Thomas and convinces him to help bring Deceit back from the brink. Meanwhile, the other Light Sides have to come to terms with the fact that all Sides are needed to help Thomas function, and there is a balance to maintain.





	1. Hijacking a Dream

Thomas was having yet another pleasant dream, courtesy of Roman. He was up on a stage while the audience was cheering and clapping and throwing roses at him. He had just performed another great show, and now he was basking in the applause.

A sudden clap of thunder startled him, and the stage began to crack and collapse. Thomas scrambled to the side, trying to flee, but something grabbed him around his middle and pulled him back. Looking down, he yelped when he saw it was a bright green tentacle. He was pulled closer to the crack and then spun around.

Bright green eyes glared at Thomas, and he saw it was Remus. The tentacle was part of a swarm, and they had sprouted from Remus’s back.

“Do you know how long it took me to get into your dreams?” Remus growled, his voice loud and demonic much like Virgil’s got sometimes. “This is my brother’s realm! And now it’s time to leave...”

He swung his morning star, and the scene cracked and shattered like glass, plunging them into darkness. Remus let Thomas go, and his tentacles slithered back within him.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Thomas asked. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here,” Remus tapped his nails against his weapon, “because of you. You haven’t been lying lately, have you Thomas? Trying to be a good little boy for your Daddy Patton? And you have no idea what the consequences are, do you?”

“Uh...” Thomas searched for an answer. “It makes me feel better because I’m honest?”

“YOU IDIOT!”

Thomas stumbled back as Remus roared. Shadows began to swirl around him, and a wind blew between them. Thomas had thought Remus was scary before, but now he was terrifying. He grabbed Thomas by the front of his shirt and lifted him into the air.

“The phrase ‘Use it or lose it’ doesn’t just apply to your dick!” Remus continued. “What do you think happens when you don’t use us as often as you should? We fade! We die! And then your mind is thrown into chaos because you broke the balance!”

“The balance?” Thomas repeated, gripping Remus’s wrists in panic. “What... no one told me about a balance.”

“Of course not,” Remus said. “Those goody two shoe sides are so determined to keep us locked away that they don’t even realize there’s a balance to keep! And right now poor Dee is... actually, why don’t I show you and really drive the message home?”

He dropped Thomas into the darkness, and Thomas screamed as he was swallowed by the shadows. He felt like he was suffocating, unable to breathe or see or hear, and then it suddenly lifted as he fell into a familiar living room. Thomas gasped for air as he looked around. It was just like the place where he talked to his other sides, but it looked so much darker and felt colder.

“Welcome to our home,” Remus appeared next to him. “This is where our little group stays in your mind. Lovely, isn’t it?”

“It’s... so cold,” Thomas shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself. 

“You get used to it,” Remus deadpanned. “Except for Dee. Poor thing is cold blooded. You never wondered why he wears so many more layers compared to the other sides? And Virgil’s hoodie wasn’t always just something for him to hide in.”

His eyes had calmed from bright green back to the dark color they usually were, but Thomas could tell he was still upset. He was confused over what was going on, but from what Remus had said something was wrong with Deceit.

“Follow me,” Remus lead him up the stairs. There were a few doors that had been sealed off with planks of wood, and the windows were all heavily curtained. Remus took Thomas to an ornate black and yellow door.

“Go in,” Remus folded his arms. “Go in and see what you did.”

Thomas gulped nervously, slowly reaching out for the door handle. It creaked loudly as he turned it, and the door creaked even more as he opened it. Something in the back of his mind said the door should not sound like that. 

The room inside was messy and covered in dust and cobwebs. Deceit’s hat was lying on the floor and his cape was hanging off a nearby desk chair. Thomas stepped inside, feeling that something was very very wrong, and he noticed the lump under the blankets of the bed.

Thomas stepped closer and had to stifle another scream. Deceit was lying so still that Thomas would have thought him dead if Remus hadn’t already said he was still alive. He looked deathly pale with dark rings around his eyes, his scales were flaking, and dried blood had crusted around his mouth.

Deceit’s eyes suddenly opened, and Thomas could see they were both milky white. Deciet stuck out his forked tongue as he struggled to sit up, but all he managed to do was flop onto his side. 

“Who’sssssss there?” Deceit hissed. His voice was a strained whisper. “Thomasssss? I ssssssmell him. But he abandoned usssssss...”

Deceit weakly rolled back over, pulling the blankets back up. Thomas saw how thin his wrists and arms were, and his guilt only increased.

“Liesssss,” said Deceit. “Trickssssss. Thomassssss issssssn’t here. He would never come to ussssss.”

Thomas covered his mouth again as his breathing became erratic. He couldn’t watch anymore of this. He couldn’t stand to see Deceit like this. He couldn’t... he couldn’t...

Thomas rushed from the room and down the hall, needing to get out of there. He tried to wake himself up, but a tentacle once again grabbed him and held him in place.

“Don’t go running off now,” Remus said as he descended the stairs. “Aren’t you proud? You’ve been so honest lately. Such a good boy for your other Sides. I bet you didn’t think about poor Dee at all, did you?”

“I didn’t...” Thomas tried to control his breathing, feeling tears well up in his eyes. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know I was hurting him. I just...”

“You just... didn’t care,” said Remus. “You only thought about what Patton was telling you. You never once thought to consult Dee. You never once thought of him as a part of you, did you? You think he’s some parasite. You think we’re both parasites, but you created us. We’re here because of you. Did you never think there was a reason for that? Why would your brain create something that wants to hurt you? We don’t. We never did.”

The tentacle let Thomas go when he was breathing calmer. He wiped the tears from his eyes, at a loss for words. He was no expert on himself, and he had relied on his other Sides for guidance. They had always expressed their distaste for the Dark Sides, but... Virgil had been one. And Thomas had seen the good in him. Had he really been so blind to not think that there was good in the others too?

“How do I help him?” Thomas asked. “I don’t... I don’t want him to die. Or fade. You’re right, he’s here for a reason and it’s not to hurt me. I just... I never took a moment to think about that.”

“Well...” Remus smirked. “I hope you enjoyed riding that high horse of yours because now it’s time to dismount and cut the legs off at the knees. You’re going to have to lie. A lot. You’re going to have to lie that sweet ass of yours off until you grind your pelvis into dust. It’s the only way to save Dee now.”

“I have to lie?” Thomas asked. “That’s it? Well... that doesn’t sound so hard.”

“Oh it will be,” Remus said. “Because you’re going to have to fight your Daddy about it every single time. Any lie will help, but the bigger and more emotional the lie, the better. So get to lying, Thomas. The clock is ticking. And if you let Dee die... I will make you think thoughts so horrifying that no shrink on this earth will be able to help you.” His eyes once again glowed green as his voice sunk into it’s demonic echo. “Tick tock, Thomas...”

He swung his morning star into the floor, causing it to shatter. Thomas once again fell into the crushing darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, please comment. Also, if anyone wants to make fanart or share the links for this fic, you are all welcome to do so. I also have a tumblr blog that you can come hang out on at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com


	2. What to Do?

Thomas gasped as he abruptly woke up. It was early in the morning, still dark outside, and the shadows felt just as suffocating as his dream. He quickly stumbled from his bed and into his bathroom where he turned on the light.

There, that was a little better. He took several deep breaths before splashing some water onto his face. Now with a clearer head, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and went over what had just happened.

Remus said that Deceit was dying, and the near corpse Thomas had seen only proved that. Why was Remus so... protective over Deceit? He’d all but threatened Thomas with insanity if Thomas let the other die. He knew Remus was Roman’s twin, but... what was the connection between him and Deceit?

Thomas sighed again and turned out the light. He wasn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon. He may as well watch some TV for now-

“Hey kiddo!”

Thomas yelped as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Patton had popped up, dressed in his usual cat pajamas. Thomas clutched his chest as he let go of the railing. 

“Patton! You really got me there.”

“What did I get you? You have to be more specific, Thomas,” Patton chuckled. He suddenly frowned, getting a good look at Thomas. “You ok, kiddo? You look upset. And you should be sleeping now. What’s wrong?”

“He had a nightmare,” Virgil said from the stairs. Thomas once again yelped. Sometimes he wondered if they could just conjure a bell to wear or something.

“Nightmare?” Roman popped up too. “Impossible. I gave him an amazing dream. Nothing scary at all. He should be asleep and basking in the adoration of his public. I even lined up some handsome men to fan you and feed you grapes.”

They were all looking at Thomas for an explanation. Patton looked concerned, Roman looked offended, and Anxiety just narrowed his eyes, feeling like something major was going on.

“I... I just...” Thomas paused. Could he tell them? Remus had told him to lie, but he hadn’t said the other Sides couldn’t know about this. And it wasn’t like Thomas could really keep anything hidden from them.

“It’s nothing,” Thomas said. “I don’t know what happened, but I just don’t feel tired right now. I’m sorry guys, but I don’t feel like talking right now. I’m just gonna watch some tv and head back to bed later.”

Thomas didn’t wait for a response as he left his Sides behind and went to sit on the couch. He could see the three arguing but only faintly heard them as he turned the tv on.

Remus’s face stared back at him from the screen, and Thomas jumped once again.

“Very good, Thomas,” Remus purred. “Keep it up and poor Dee will be back on his scaly feet. Remember what I said. Let him die... and I will end you.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lying couldn’t be this hard, could it?

And yet, after being honest for so long Thomas couldn’t help but think he was betraying some part of himself by deciding to lie again. Maybe that was Patton. Either way, Thomas had no choice in the matter. Sure, he could keep telling the truth, but he had seen Remus’s power. Remus was much stronger than the Sides had made him out to be. Thomas didn’t doubt that Remus would make good on his threat to drive Thomas insane.

“Yeesh, I can hear you worrying from my room,” Virgil appeared in his usual spot. Thomas had closed his eyes for only a second and yet Virgil had popped right up. Granted, it made sense that Virgil would be summoned by Thomas’s thoughts.

“What’s got you so muddled?” Virgil asked. “You didn’t sleep much last night and Roman is still scratching his head over what happened to his dream. I swear if I have to listen to another word of his... Thomas, you’re scaring me. Seriously, what is the matter.”

Thomas hadn’t said a word or even acknowledged Virgil’s presence. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts and dilemmas to pay attention to his anxiety. That was actually a first.

At the same time... Virgil had been a Dark Side. Maybe he’d know more about all of this. Could Thomas confide in him?

“Virgil... what do you know about Remus and Deceit?” Thomas asked, finally looking at the other. Virgil blinked a few times, not expecting such a question. Why was Thomas asking about the Dark Sides? Had it been a mistake to confess his prior affiliation?

“Why... I don’t understand,” said Virgil. “Why are you asking about Snake Face and Sir Demented? I mean... they’re bad news. Dark Sides. Haven’t we been over this?”

“I want to know,” said Thomas. He didn’t raise his voice, he stayed calm. “I need to know. I can’t tell you why just yet, but... I need to know what their history is.”

Virgil was silent once again. Thomas could see the gears working in his head. He was connecting the dots, but Thomas doubted he’d figure out everything.

“They have something to do with this, don’t they?” Virgil finally said. “Why didn’t you tell us? Don’t you trust us? Trust Patton at least? Are they hurting you? Blackmailing you? Controlling you? Thomas, what’s going on?”

Thomas put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder to ground him as he worked himself up. Virgil paused and took a deep breath at the unspoken command. Thomas sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I really can’t say,” he said. “I... I don’t know what I’m going to do about this, and I just... I need time to think on my own. Without you guys chiming in. They’re not controlling me or anything, but I do need to know more about them. You said you were a Dark Side once. Did you ever see them together?”

Virgil nodded, looking away from Thomas. It had been hard enough to tell his name and his past, but this... this was the pearl that Virgil fought to keep firmly in the oyster. But Thomas really seemed to need to know.

“Deceit... Deceit raised us,” said Virgil. Thomas’s eyes widened at his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, please comment. Also, if anyone wants to make fanart or share the links for this fic, you are all welcome to do so. I also have a tumblr blog that you can come hang out on at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com


	3. Virgil's Talk

Thomas blinked.

“Raised?” He asked. “What do you mean by raised?”

Virgil sighed and sat down. Thomas had never really asked about how things went on in the mindscape. At least not things like that. It had never occurred to him that his sides might have been young and small like him once upon a time.

“Ok, so...” Virgil paused. “So from what we know, it’s like this: A side’s... power is determined by how much you listen to them. Patton is obviously the most powerful and it makes sense. He’s your morality. Of course you’d listen to him more. But behind him was Deceit. I’m sure he’s got less power now because you found out about him, but back then... it was different.

Anyway, as the most powerful, Patton had the ability to split us up, and he did. If Patton determined that a Side was good, he’d keep them. If they were bad, he sent them to the darker side of the mindscape. Deceit was one of the first sent there. I remember a few others were there too. I was next, and I was like a child that had no idea how the world worked or who I was. I only knew my name and that I was your anxiety. After seeing my effect on you, Patton sent me to stay with Deceit. Things... weren’t that bad. Deceit was a good man. He helped me figure things out and was always there to help me calm down when I had a fit.

After a while, Roman split and Remus was created. Patton tried to take care of him, because he was still part of your creativity, but he couldn’t handle Remus. He eventually sent Remus to stay with us and explained things to Deceit. Deceit was mad that Patton was splitting everyone up, but Patton would just keep saying that it was best for you because we all represented things that hurt you. As you can imagine, our group eventually started growing a little bitter...”

He shook his head and sighed again. Thomas was in shock. He’d had absolutely no idea about any of this. And there were others still that he didn’t know about? Who were they? What did they represent? Why had Patton sent them away?

“So... this whole Light and Dark Side thing... that was Patton?” he asked. “But... why did he never tell me after I found out about you guys? Why did none of you tell me, was Deceit hiding it all?”

“Deceit... he fought for us,” said Virgil. “He argued that locking away some of your sides wouldn’t do any good-”

“Locking away?” Thomas narrowed his eyes as Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth. “What do you mean some sides were locked away?”

“I...” Virgil began to panic. He’d let something slip that he wasn’t supposed to. Patton had always told them to keep it a secret or it could hurt Thomas. And he’d let it slip so easily. “I... I didn’t mean- Thomas, Patton said it was for the best. They could have become too powerful if you weren’t careful-”

“Who the hell... are you to say what’s good and what’s bad for me?” Thomas asked, sounding upset. “Who did you hide from me or lock away because you thought it would be better for me?”

“Thomas, I can’t-” Virgil’s breathing had picked up, and his voice was deepening again as his panic increased. “I... I’m sorry, Thomas!”

And then Virgil was gone.

Thomas blinked and felt... well, he didn’t know how he felt. He didn’t know how he _should_ feel. They had been hiding things from him, and then they had the nerve to scold Deceit for doing the same thing to him before.

He had to get answers, but he was sure he wouldn’t get them from Patton or Logan or the others. There was only one who could know about this and be honest with him.

And that side was currently near death.

Thomas needed to get Deceit back on his feet and fast. If Remus had been right about Sides fading, then these Sides could be in the same boat. Maybe some had already faded because Thomas had no idea about them.

He shook his head and pulled out his phone. During his truth binge, he’d strained a lot of friendships by telling the truth and hurting some of them. Time to right all his wrongs with some white lies.

>>>>>>>

Virgil sunk back into the mindscape just in time to see an argument taking place. Remus was standing at the stairs that led down to the darker mindscape where he usually stayed. He was hissing and screeching with his bright green eyes, holding his morningstar with both hands. His tentacles wriggled and swarmed aggressively behind him, but they were also holding a bundle wrapped in a fluffy yellow blanket.

“That snake is not welcome here!” Roman yelled, sword pointing at his brother. Patton nervously fiddled with his hoodie sleeves while Logan stood nearby. “You can turn just turn around and leave because we are not going to let him stay!”

“He needs warmth,” Remus argued back. “And there is none down there. Don’t you understand?! Deceit is sick and needs to recover. I’m just asking to let him stay here until he has. It’s warm and sunny up here, and he needs that!”

Virgil walked over as they continued to argue. He stepped between the brothers and held his arms out for silence.

“Remus...” he said softly. “How bad is it?”

Remus’s eyes cooled off to their usual brown, and he lowered his weapon.

“Virgil. He’s... he’s almost gone. Please... I know you hate us, but I’m not asking to move in. I just want to stay here with him so that he can get better. When he does, we’ll leave. I swear.”

Virgil glanced at the blanket, noticing that a thin and scaled arm had gotten free of the cocoon. He pressed his lips together in a grimace and then turned to face the others.

“Guys... this is serious. Remus doesn’t lie. Deceit might fade away if we don’t let them stay here, and we all know how much a Side’s death affect’s Thomas.”

The others looked uncomfortable, but Roman lowered his sword as well. He sheathed it and walked away, heading to his room and muttering about snakes and rats. Logan simply adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.

“There’s a large window seat in the living room,” he said. “Deceit would benefit the most if he rested there. We have more blankets in the closet and the heated one is on the bottom shelf. You are welcome to them if needed.”

Remus had tears of relief in his eyes as he vanished his morningstar and held the bundled Deceit in his arms.

“Thank you,” he said. “You don’t know how much he means to me.”

“Actually, I think I can guess,” Patton gave a sad smile. “Go lay him down and I’ll heat up some broth for him. I bet he could use some real food.”

Virgil said nothing as Remus carried the other to the window seat Logan had told him about. His words echoed in Virgil’s mind.

_I know you hate us._

Virgil did hate them. And yet... he felt as if that was a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, please comment. Also, if anyone wants to make fanart or share the links for this fic, you are all welcome to do so. I also have a tumblr blog that you can come hang out on at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com


	4. Moral Conundrums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kept Deceit's name from my other story. I just can't call him anything else now...

It had taken Thomas almost a week to fix things with his friends. Between phone calls, lunch dates, collaborations, and just straight up white lies, he had managed to repair the bridges he had burned to a traversal state. He was still on rocky ledges with a few, but he had high hopes that things would be just fine after some time.

Thomas had tried to focus all his energy on lying and helping Deceit, but he’d been interrupted quite a few times by Morality.

_“Lying is wrong,” Patton said. “Thomas, we discussed this.”_

_“We did,” Thomas agreed. “And all those truths we told only made Deceit suffer. I’m sorry, Patton... but I can’t just let him die. Remus already told me and even showed me. I know he’s a Dark Side and you all have warned me against him... but it’s not fair to let him fade just because I wanted to feel better about myself. And to be honest? I felt awful telling all those truths. It hurt me so much, but... I feel better now that I was able to smooth things over.”_

_Patton wrung his hoodie sleeves in his hands as he listened to Thomas. It was true that lying was sometimes ok, but... if Thomas started lying... what if he never stopped? Logan had explained a disorder called pathological lying, a disorder that made people unable to tell the truth, and Patton had been terrified that it might happen to Thomas, especially since he’d been lying a lot before Patton had urged him to stop._

_“But... Thomas, what if you never stop lying? What if you lie so much that you can’t ever tell the truth again? What would that do to your life? To you? You’d be trapped in some kind of web of lies, an unwilling spider!” Patton said._

_Thomas narrowed his eyes._

_“An unwilling spider in a web of lies?”_

_“I... might have borrowed that from Roman,” Patton said sheepishly. “He’s brilliant, isn’t he?”_

_“He is, but... just because I tell some lies, doesn’t mean I’m going to become a pathological liar,” said Thomas. “I still have you to help me with my rights and wrongs, and I love you for that, but... sometimes you have to ease up. Look what my lack of lies did! What if I suddenly stopped exercising my logic or creativity and Roman or Logan started to fade?”_

_“No!” Patton shrieked, putting his hands over his mouth in fear. “No, please don’t! I’m sorry, I won’t mention it again-”_

_“Patton, that was just an example,” said Thomas. “I would never do that. I promise. But right now I have to help Deceit get better. Once he is, I’ll scale back the lies.”_

_“Oh...” Patton sounded miserable. “Ok. I just... I hate that you have to do this. It breaks my heart to hear you lying.”_

But now Thomas was done. No more lying... for now. He’d done all he could, and now it was time for some answers. Virgil’s words still rang in his head, and he was determined to find out what he had been speaking of. And there was only one Side who could tell him the truth.

It was time to speak with Deceit.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Deceit had been recovering rather nicely. He could feel the lies Thomas was telling, and his strength grew with each one. He still wasn’t at a hundred percent, but he would never be until he became the main side that Thomas always listened to, and that position belonged to Patton.

Still, at least he could see and speak without slurring his S sounds now.

Remus had been taking good care of him, and some of the others had even helped out. Patton would cook light foods for Deceit to eat and Logan had done research on snakes to figure out how best to regulate Deceit’s body temperature. Virgil... had checked on Deceit once or twice, but he was keeping his distance. Roman was about the same.

Remus hadn’t left Deceit’s side at all. He’d made himself a little nest next to the window seat to sleep on at night, always right beside the other in case he was needed. For Roman, it was strange to see Remus like this. He didn’t have many memories of his brother outside of all the horrific things Remus had said or conjured, and he had few memories of their childhood. He’d stopped seeing Remus at a young age after the other had drawn a graphic picture of Roman getting hurt and had even once asked ‘would you bleed if I stabbed you with a knife’?

Roman had been terrified of his brother and decided to never see him again. But here, Remus was acting very... caring. And loving. And... normal. He dutifully fed Deceit when the other was too weak to. He kept Deceit comfortable and talked to him and worried over him. Roman almost... felt jealous that Deceit got to see this side of his twin, but he didn’t.

Even now, he was sitting on the living room couch and staring at the curtained window that hid the two sides.

“Is there a reason you’re staring like a moron, Babe?” Remy asked from beside him. He’d stopped by to drop off some hot tea for Deceit. He’d been doing it ever since he’d found out about Deceit’s predicament, much to everyone’s surprise. Remy often came by to visit, but they’d had no idea he had a friendship with the Dark Sides as well.

“Just making sure that monster doesn’t try anything,” Roman said.

“Oh come on, Honey... I’m sure that snake can smell your lie,” Remy sipped his iced coffee, making an obnoxious slurping sound.

“It’s none of your business anyway,” Roman finally looked back at the television, turning up the volume a bit. Remy sighed and rolled his eyes. If Roman wasn’t going to be honest, then he wasn’t going to press.

They both looked up when someone entered the Mind Palace, quickly walking across the room in front of the tv.

“Thomas?” Roman asked. “What are you-”

“I need to speak with Deceit,” Thomas said, not slowing down. Roman blinked and shook his head.

“The snake? Why are you-”

But Thomas had already disappeared behind the yellow curtain. He looked at the figure lying on the seat and sighed in relief, seeing how much better he looked. Remus was sitting on the end of the seat, smiling and looking happy to see Thomas.

“You kept your promise,” he said. “I’m surprised. I half expected Patton to tell you to go back to telling the truth, and then... I’d have to avenge Dee’s life.”

“Patton did have a talk with me, but I couldn’t just stand aside and let this happen,” Thomas sighed and looked at Deceit. The Side regarded Thomas cooly, his scales almost healed and his eyes back to their mismatched colors.

“I... I’m sorry, Deceit,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know this would happen. It turns out... I don’t know a lot about you guys at all. And you almost paid the price for that. I acted on Patton’s words because I thought he was the best to listen to. But as I thought about it over these past few days, I realized that... that you made some good points in the past and I was wrong to just ignore you without thinking for myself. I was wrong to ignore you at all. You’re all my Sides and you’re all part of me and I should listen to you all no matter if they say you’re a Light side or a Dark S- actually, no!” Thomas shook his head, a look of determination in his eyes. “You’re not Light or Dark. You’re all just Sides. We’re all part of the same family and I don’t want you all split up again.”

Remus tilted his head, eyes wide in shock. His creator was letting them all stay together? Deceit looked surprised as well. He’d never thought Thomas would do this.

“Do you think... you could ever forgive me for what I did, Deceit?” Thomas finished softly, looking like he was generally sorry for what had happened.

There was a moment or two of silence and then...

“Juke.”

“Huh?” Thomas looked up. “What was that?”

“My name,” said Deceit. “If we are really to be a family, and we are really to work together... then I will let you call me by my name. It’s Juke.”

Thomas smiled. Maybe there was hope for this working after all.


	5. A Little Help From My Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow... I had no idea so much time had passed since the last chapter. Sorry, guys!

“We need to talk,” Thomas said, looking at all the sides before him. Juke and Remus were still huddled on the window seat while the others were either on the couch or the armchairs. Thomas sighed and looked at them all. There were six here, but how many more were there that he didn’t know about?

“I am putting an end to this stupid Lights Sides/Dark Sides stuff. From now on, you’re all just my Sides. And I want you all to get along. I’m going to be doing some remodeling in the Mind Palace. I want you all on the same level. No more dark and cold living rooms, no more stairs to separate you. You will all share the same areas...”

This was met with some complaints, which he expected.

“What? I have to share space with that rat?!”

“They’ll just trash the place or try to hurt us!”

“Kiddo, maybe you should think this through...”

“I have been thinking,” Thomas silenced them all. “I’ve been in the dark about all this for too long. There are sides of myself that I still haven’t met, I almost killed one of them, and I had no idea there was this whole... history between you guys.”

He looked at Virgil who looked away immediately. Patton glanced at him too, and then he slowly took a deep breath.

“Thomas,” he said. “I did it all for your own good-”

“Patton, stop,” said Thomas. “I know you did, and that’s why I’m only a little mad at you. But you can’t just decide what’s good for me. You can’t just lock away parts of myself. I... I have to learn this all for myself. I have to figure it all out myself. Or at least have you guys help me. But you can’t just do everything without telling me or talking to me.”

“I did tell you that locking them away would be bad,” Logan said to Patton. “I told you that Thomas needed those parts, however bad you deemed them.”

“I don’t want anyone pointing fingers,” said Thomas. “What happened... happened. I just want to move on now, and I want to meet the other sides you hid from me.”

“Ask your snake friend!” Roman said. “He’s the one who hid them!”

“I hid them because I didn’t want you lot manipulating Thomas into wanting them gone,” Juke said, glaring at the Prince. “The moment I revealed myself, you all were telling Thomas how awful and untrustworthy I was. You didn’t even give him a chance to form an opinion before you started slinging your own.”

Thomas nodded at Juke’s words.

“Guys... I love you all. I know you want to keep me safe and sound, and I appreciate it. I really do. But you have to let me make these decisions myself,” he said. “I can’t live my life like this. Now how many are locked away?”

“Five,” said Patton. His eyes widened when he saw that Juke was holding up only three fingers.

“Three,” said Juke. “We... we lost two of them.”

Patton covered his face with his hands and pulled his knees to his chest. He silently shook and trembled with grief. Two. Two! Two Sides were gone because of him.

“Who’s left?” Virgil’s tone sounded dead, and he was staring at the carpet.

“We... we managed to keep Sorrow, Anger, and Libido alive,” Remus said, shifting slightly. His maniacal tone was missing, and he sounded as if he were mourning someone. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I kept them alive,” he said. “They’re not in their rooms! They’re not there! I let them out! I took them to the subconscious where you wouldn’t be able to find them!”

Remus had jumped up and his eyes were once again green. He snarled at Patton, and Roman moved to stand in front, sword drawn.

“Bro, you better sit back down,” he said, looking ready to fight.

“It’s his fault!” Remus said. “It’s his fault we had to watch two of them die! And I know you wanted to lock me away too, didn’t you?! Didn’t you, Patton?! But you knew Juke would strangle you before he let you do it!”

Logan had pulled Virgil away, and Thomas was yelling at them to calm down. Roman’s hands began to shake as he stared down his brother. He was suddenly reminded of when they were younger. His brother holding that knife and smiling.

_“Do you think you would bleed if I stabbed you?”_

“If you could, you would have locked us all away and thrown the key off a cliff!” Remus sounded like he was letting out years of pent up feelings. Juke was trying to pull him back down, but he was weak. “You think you’re so much better than us all because you’re Morality! But you’re just as bad sometimes! And I am tired of us coming second to you and your family just because think we’re-”

And then he fell silent.

All of them did.

All were frozen in horror as Remus slowly looked down to see Roman’s sword sticking out of his chest. Roman himself looked terrified. Whether he was terrified of his brother or what he had done was anyone’s guess.

Remus’s sash was starting to stain red with blood, and a trickle was already sliding from his mouth and down his chin. Still, he blinked. Silent and shocked.

“Oh...” he said softly. “I suppose... we got our answer...”

His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he crumpled like a broken puppet.

Patton actually screamed, fingers gripping his hair, breathing slipping into hyperventilating. Virgil ran over to try to help him calm down. Juke had tears in his eyes as he looked upon Remus’s body on the floor, a faraway look on his face as if he was seeing something else.

Roman didn’t move a muscle. His hands were still poised as if he was holding his sword, and his shaking increased. What had he done? He... he hadn’t meant to, had he? Remus was scaring him again, _and the drawing had so much red crayon and the organs had been drawn with such detail and Remus was laughing at Roman’s horror and waving the drawing and asking him if he liked it and nononononononono..._

“Brother.”

Roman jerked from his flashback as Remus slowly sat up. Roman’s sword was gone as was the blood on his mouth and sash. He smiled at the other and got to his feet before letting Juke pull him back to the window seat. Juke sobbed into Remus’s shoulder, clinging to him as if Remus really did die right in front of him.

Thomas surveyed the room. Juke was crying, Roman looked to be on the verge of a breakdown, Patton was just coming down from one, Virgil was helping, and Logan was simply watching it all with a horrified look.

“Guys,” Thomas sighed. “This is exactly what I”m trying to fix.” He put a hand on Roman’s shoulder and helped him sit down in a chair. “There’s obviously some deep issues here, and I need to know what’s going on before we can even hope to heal-”

He broke off when the door suddenly opened and someone walked in.

“Oh dear,” the newcomer frowned, looking at everyone in the room. “I guess I have my work cut out for me.”

Remus’s brows rose, recognizing who had just walked in.

“Dr. Picani?”


	6. The First Attempt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little heated...

“I know that this will be difficult,” Emile said as he dug through his messenger bag. He pulled out a tape recorder and a bell and set them aside on the table. “But I appreciate your willingness to... begin the healing process.”

Thomas stared at the bell, almost expecting a sign that said ‘please ring for assistance’.

“I will be recording this session and any other sessions we have,” Emile flipped open his notebook. “It will help with my notes since there are quite a few of you.”

He had conjured up some chairs and sat them all in a circle. Remus and Juke were sitting close together, Juke clutching Remus’s hand as if he was scared Remus would disappear. Remus held it just as tightly.

Patton looked nervous, Logan looked impassive, Roman was still shaking from what he had just done, and Virgil looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else.

“So...” Emile smiled and looked around the room. “Who would like to go first?”

Dead. Silence.

Thomas looked around and sighed. Guess it was up to him.

“Guys... I care about each and every one of you,” he said. “You’re all part of me. We’ve been through a lot together, and I like to think we’re a family. But there’s obviously some... unresolved issues here. And I really want us to work it all out. This... this dynamic can’t continue.” He frowned. “And I am not letting any of you leave until we get this settled-”

“Patton started splitting us up as soon as we started appearing,” Virgil sighed. “The way it works is, when you give a lot of power to one of your traits, we manifest into a physical form. Otherwise, it’s all fish in the sea. I was the second to last to appear. Then the split happened and Remus was born. Patton and... and Juke were the ones who took care of us. There used to be more, but as you grew up, some of us vanished.”

“Died,” Remus said.

“When a side fades away, their job is picked up by another side, but to a lesser degree,” said Emile. “If I’m correct, the first side to fade was... Greed.”

“Pan,” said Juke. “His name was Pan. And yes, he was the first to die.”

“We were there,” said Virgil. “We all watched it happen. Juke was holding him when he finally faded away.”

Patton covered his mouth, tears in his eyes. What had he done? Why had he split them up?

“So if Pan faded, who took his job?” Logan asked. His tone was all business, but Patton could tell he was shaken by it too. As Light Sides, none of them had ever had to worry about dying. In fact, it had been a long time before any of them found out it was possible to die. To think that the Dark Sides had been dying out one by one...

“It’s never clear just who takes the job, but my theory is it went to Juke,” said Emile. “But as a lesser degree, it altered his job only slightly. He went from being in charge of Thomas’s lies, to being in charge of Thomas’s self preservation. Sometimes adopting a new job can radically alter your current one... and sometimes it doesn’t.”

“You’re saying my job changed that much after one death?” Juke asked.

“Not entirely, but I believe it set the foundation,” Emile was writing in his notebook. “Anyway, so Patton began to split the sides up as they were being formed. Patton, would you like to explain why you did that?”

Patton flinched as he was addressed. He shrunk into his seat when he saw all eyes fall upon him. 

“I... I, uh...” he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “It was years ago. I was... learning about the outside world and Thomas, and... I remember hearing people talk about... about bad people.” He took a slower deep breath. “Bad things happen to bad people. They get hurt, they get sent to prison, they die, they... it’s not ideal to be a bad person. I love Thomas. He’s my son. I didn’t want him to be hurt or spend his life in jail, so... I began to separate the sides that might make him bad. I sent them away.”

“Who the fuck gives you the right to determine who’s bad and who isn’t?” Remus snapped. “We spent our lives in a dark cold place while you and your ilk were up here living the dream. Thomas didn’t even know about us, we had to fight to be noticed!”

“Well maybe if you weren’t such horrible people, Patton wouldn’t have sent you away!” Roman growled. 

“That’s rich, coming from the side who just stabbed me in the chest not ten minutes ago!” Remus sneered. “You have no room to talk. You had no idea what it was like for us. Only Virgil does and he’s not about to open up about it because he’s worried you’ll all hate him again if he reminds you of where he came from. I bet you wanted to lock him away too, didn’t you Patton?!”

“I-I-I...” Patton faltered. “I wasn’t going to lock all of you away. J-just the ones who would have hurt Thomas the most-”

“None of us would have!” Juke said. “We all sought to protect Thomas! We never wanted to hurt him. We never wanted to control or corrupt him!”

“Oh shut up, Juke!” Virgil hissed. “I didn’t like my childhood, but Patton had his reasons. Some of us really could have screwed Thomas up! There’s a reason why I left you two, and it’s your own faults!”

And then the session descended into chaos as they all began to yell and scream and accuse and curse. Logan tried to make himself heard a few times, but he ultimately gave up. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes in a way that made him look exhausted.

Thomas just stared at his sides. This went way deeper than some petty rivalry. Who knew he could have so many issues that didn’t even really pertain to him? The voices all began to rise in volume and intensity, and Thomas watched Emile calmly lean down...

BING!

The sides gasped as they fell quiet. Their voices had suddenly failed them, and they’d been rendered mute.

“I dislike having to use this bell,” said Emile. “But sometimes I must. Ringing this bell silences anyone speaking for a few seconds. Long enough for me to regain control. Now then...” he settled back in his chair. “Everyone here will be able to speak. Every single one of you. But there has to be some order to this if everyone’s to be heard. From what I can see, I can group this together to better resolve these issues. So... I would like to start with Roman and Remus. We will... work on your issues first.”

The twins glanced at each other, one with anger, one with amusement. It was time to spill the beans...


	7. Cain and Abel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is there any hope for working things out?

“I thought you were supposed to use cartoons to draw parallels,” Thomas whispered to Emile as Remus and Roman drug their chairs to the center of the circle.

“Normally, yes,” Emile was switching out the tapes in the recorder. “But your sides don’t like it when I do that. They think I’m patronizing them. So I have to leave that stuff out.”

“Wait... my sides go to you for therapy?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.

“Some do,” Emile smiled.

He cleared his throat and turned to look at the twins.

“So... from what I understand, you two were once one single entity. You were split at a young age and instead became yourselves. I’d like to ask about the split. How did it feel?”

The twins glanced at each other as if waiting for the other to speak. Roman narrowed his eyes, and Remus’s lips tightened, but he suddenly scoffed and shook his head.

“Like losing a limb,” he said. “Like you wake up one day to find yourself stuck in a tub of ice and missing an arm or a leg or a kidney. And that feeling stays with you. A phantom limb, but you can see all your limbs. Everything’s normal, but something just feels off and I hate it.”

Roman blinked.

“Uh... it doesn’t really feel that way to me,” he said. “I mean, I used to feel like I wasn’t whole, but then it wasn’t so bad and I barely noticed it.”

“Interesting,” Emile made some notes. “So it seems that Remus was affected by it more than you. I imagine it must have been very traumatizing for you two. To suddenly be created from another entity-”

“That’s called being born, genius. Everyone goes through it,” Remus folded his arms. He didn’t like how vulnerable he felt, spilling his guts like this. He usually covered it up in crude humor, but he knew Emile would be able to see through it. The man had the uncanny ability to see through defenses like that.

It was one of the reasons why his therapy sessions with Emile were so grueling.

Emile, to his credit, didn’t react to the insult, instead he just made another note.

“It’s curious how you two are affected so differently,” He continued. “I imagine you were... sent to live with the others after the split?”

“No,” Remus shook his head. “From what Mama told me, Patton did try to raise me. He just couldn’t get a handle on me, and he sent me to live with the others. So, I had Mama... and then my older brothers. They were all very nice, and I loved them so much.” He paused. “Virgil came after. From what I understand, he didn’t even get a chance. Just tossed to us as soon as they found out what his job was.”

Roman turned to look at Patton with a shocked expression. Memories of such an early time were hazy, but he’d never known that Virgil was given away so quickly. Roman had assumed that everyone had been given a chance.

Patton didn’t meet Roman’s eyes, looking away guiltily.

“Hey Roman,” Remus suddenly grinned. “Have you ever thought... that there was a half and half chance that you could have been the forbidden twin? You could have been the one tossed aside and I could have been you, beloved by all? Imagine that...”

“I would never have become you,” Roman glared. “I’m not some awful, vulgar, murderous side like you are. It’s a good thing that Patton gave you up. I still remember that picture you drew and holding that knife up and asking me if I bleed.”

“He did the same to me,” Juke interrupted. “I just took the knife from him and changed the subject. I hung the art on the fridge with his other drawings.”

“Well, maybe you guys are used to that sort of thing, but it scared me!” Roman said. “I was just a kid! What was I supposed to think?! Why couldn’t he have drawn something normal if he really wanted me to like it?!”

“I’d like to try an exercise,” Emile interrupted. He conjured two sketchbooks and some crayons. “I’d like you two to draw something for me. Roman, I want you to draw a bunny whose head was cut off. Remus, draw me a bunny with a pretty pink bow around its neck.”

Roman blinked in confusion.

“Why? What’s the point of making me draw something that awful?” He asked. Still, he selected a crayon from the box and flipped to a blank page.

“Humor me,” Emile said. “You may begin.”

The two began to work in silence with the others watching curiously. Virgil kept trying to shift his body to better see the sketchbooks, but the others stayed still. Juke had an amused look on his face, as if he knew what was about to happen.

Roman drew the body of the bunny and sighed as he went to work on the decapitated head. He could hear Remus grunting in frustration beside him, but kept his eyes on his own paper. He drew the head and then went to draw the blood and the obvious gap between the head and the body, but his hand froze. He blinked and then tried again, but his hand refused to cooperate. What was happening? He growled low and kept trying over and over, and his hand finally moved... to draw a red bow around the bunny’s neck.

“Ok,” Emile finally said. “Let’s see your work.”

Roman held up his book and looked at Remus. Remus’s bunny was decapitated and had no bow at all. There were several marks where it was clear he had tried to draw one.

“Interesting,” Emile said. “You both drew what I asked the other to draw. Why is that?”

“I don’t know,” Roman snapped. “I just... I couldn’t do it. I tried, but my hand wouldn’t listen. It just... it drew the bow!”

Remus said nothing, looking away. Juke reached out and pat his shoulder comfortingly. He’d known what would happen, having experienced it before.

“It’s almost as if you two are incapable of doing what the other does,” Emile mused to himself. “Roman can’t create dark things and Remus cannot create things that are considered good. Not even simple drawings.”

Roman felt his stomach drop to the floor as the implications hit him. He slowly turned to look at Remus, who was still refusing eye contact. All those drawings Remus had made. The ones of Roman getting hurt or dying or being killed...

“Those drawings...” he said slowly. “When we were kids...”

“He was just trying to draw pictures of you like most brothers,” said Emile. “But he couldn’t draw the nice ones you drew, so he drew different pictures.”

“I tried!” Remus snapped angrily, ripping the sketchbook in half. “I tried to draw those cute little family pictures with the smiling sun and the happy people! I... tried to. But I couldn’t. No matter what, I couldn’t. But I still wanted to draw pictures of us. And you said they were horrible and scary, and you called me bad and evil and all other names...”

He growled and stood up, turning to point at Patton.

“And then you wanted to lock me away with the others! You said I was too dangerous and I was going to get Thomas hurt! And do you know who stood up for me? Who fought for me? Not my darling twin, it was Juke! Juke said if you tried to do it, he’d make you very sorry. But you still had to lock away my brothers, didn’t you?!”

“He didn’t lock me away,” Roman said softly. Remus slowly turned to look at him with the coldest look he could give.

“You were the one who said we are not brothers. You were the one who said you couldn’t possibly be related to someone as horrible as me,” he said. “But that’s fine. You all rejected me, so I found new brothers. I didn’t have a _Vater_, but I had a Mama. And they were better than any of you! At least they accepted me for who I am and what I do! They were the ones who understand that I can’t control it!”

BING!

Remus gasped as his voice was once again stolen from him. He panted and sat back down.

“I’m sorry, Emile...”

“You were getting worked up, Remus,” Emile was taking notes. “Use your breathing exercises and calm down. You know how sick you get when you get worked up...”

He shook his head and sighed. This was going to be much much harder than he thought.


	8. Good Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juke and Patton get their turn...

“I know we haven’t found a resolution,” Emile said. “But Remus is not doing well, and I do not want to push him any further. I think we’ve made tremendous progress, but I’d like to move on for now. Next up... I’d like to speak to Juke and Patton.”

Roman and Remus moved back to the circle, and Remus helped Juke move his chair to the center. Patton joined him, looking confused. Why was he being spoken to? He didn’t have any issues. Everything was fine with him. Everything was just... fine.

“You’re such a liar,” Juke hissed, flicking his tongue.

“So...” Emile once again switched out the tapes, “Juke and Patton, Thomas’s Self Preservation and his Morality. It’s actually odd that you two would be at such odds as this considering how much you two care about Thomas. And from what I understand, you two have established yourself as father figures of our... groups.”

“Well yeah, I knew they’d need someone to teach them right from wrong,” said Patton. “And that’s my job. And then as things went on, I just sort of... took on the Dad role.”

“Was that because Thomas associated being taught his rights and wrongs from his father?” Emile asked. “So you sort of... morphed into that parental figure?”

“I... I guess I did,” Patton shrugged. “I mean, I never really thought about it, it just sort of happened...”

“And Juke, you took on the fatherly roles of the others, right?” Emile was scribbling on his notepad.

“They looked to me for guidance as one of Thomas’s oldest sides,” said Juke. “And yes, I came to think of them all as my children.”

“And you’ve... lost some of those children,” Emile said gently.

“Three died,” said Juke. “Three more were taken from me. I don’t know if they’re dead or not.”

Once again, Patton looked distressed. Juke had often spoken to him in the past about the obvious divide between the two ‘families’, but Patton had stayed firm on his stance of the matter. He’d only been protecting Thomas, but... he’d never imagined the cost could be so great.

“We spoke about Pan,” said Emile. “Who was the next one?”

“Morey,” said Juke. “They would have known him as Pride. He died for the same reason Pan did, but he died in his sleep during the night. We woke up and... his bed was empty. We all knew what had happened.”

Remus sniffled and Juke cleared his throat. Virgil curled up in his seat, flinching when Logan tried to comfort him. Virgil had been there for Morey’s death too. He was still a little young, but Juke hadn’t been able to hide that death from him either. Virgil had known what was going to happen.

“Morey passed and his duties were... taken on by another to a lesser extent much like Pan,” Emile nodded and made a note.

“But by who?” Roman asked. 

Emile gave Roman a meaningful look. It took a few minutes before the prince shook his head. 

“No way! Me? Impossible, I’m not a dark side-”

“There are no dark sides,” Juke sounded annoyed. “We are all Thomas’s sides.”

“We all have a duty, and when we are no longer able to do it... then someone else does it. Morey’s job passed to you, Roman,” Emile explained. “You embody Thomas’s pride.”

“Somehow, I’m not that surprised,” Logan said. “Roman has been exhibiting traits of a prideful person.”

“I am not a dark side!” Roman insisted. “And why are you all coming after me? I thought it was Patton and Deceit’s turn!”

“Point taken,” Emile cleared his throat. “Let’s get back on track. Who passed after Morey?”

“Sevrin,” said Juke. “Thomas’s Discipline.”

“Discipline?” Emile looked at Patton. “Now why would he be sent away?”

“He was... too strict,” said Patton. “He kept fighting and trying to keep Thomas grounded and wouldn’t let him have any dreams or fantasies or anything like that.”

“He didn’t mesh well with us either,” said Juke. “He tried to take control of the others and so I banished him. I... wasn’t as close with him, but I still considered him part of us. He was exiled to the subconscious and I only knew about his death because I felt it.”

“Good riddance,” Remus growled. “No one liked him anyway.”

“But now you see why I did the things I did?!” Patton jumped up. “Look at all of this! I split us up so that Thomas could be a good person and live a good life. I did it all for him. If I had kept us all together we would have fought and who knows how Thomas would have ended up-”

“You went too far, Patton,” Thomas finally spoke up, trying to stay out of things. “It wasn’t your place to make these decisions for me. I know you had good intentions-”

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” Remus spoke up. “And you judged us all unfairly. How many more of us would have died if Mama hadn’t worked so hard to keep us hidden?”

“Is that why you kept quiet about your existence?” Thomas asked. “You didn’t want me knowing because you were afraid you’d die like the others?”

Juke was silent for a few minutes before he nodded.

“I had already lost three,” he said. “I couldn’t bear to lose another.” He sniffled, wiping at his eyes. “When you rejected me, and I was dying in that bed... all I could think about was who would take care of my children? Who would love them like I do? Would Remus be alone after my passing? Would the other sides even care what happened to him?”

“No one could replace you, Mama,” Remus said, reaching out to take Juke’s hand. Virgil was silently crying to himself, and Patton was fairing no better. Emile looked around the room and cleared his throat again.

“Why don’t we take a break?” He asked. “I think we could all use one. Let’s come back here and resume in... twenty minutes. Ok?”

Some of the sides nodded, but the others simply stood up and left the room.


	9. Breakthrough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so dialogue heavy. I wanted to put in some epic speeches...

“Ok, hopefully everybody is feeling better,” Emile said as he resumed his seat. Everyone else had come back. Some were wiping away tears, and some did look as if they were feeling better. Juke and Patton were sitting in their seats in the middle, ready to keep going.

“If you don’t mind, Emile...” Juke said softly. “I’d like to say something to Patton and the others.”

Emile looked surprised, but he gestured for Juke to go ahead.

Juke slowly got to his feet. This whole therapy session was draining in every way, and he still hadn’t fully recovered from Thomas’s neglect. Remus stood to help Juke, but Juke waved him off. Remus understood. Juke wanted to do this himself.

Juke moved slowly to stand and face Patton. He took a few deep breaths to help steady himself before standing to his full height.

“Patton,” he said. “I understand what you did, and what you are doing now. I respect you for what you are doing, and I respect your position as father figure to the others.”

He paused for a breath, and Patton wisely stayed silent.

“But this... purity culture that you trying to hold Thomas up against... it’s toxic. Thomas is... he’s not perfect.”

Patton opened his mouth to protest, but Juke continued.

“He’s not perfect,” Juke repeated. “He is NOT perfect. He is not perfect. He... is... not... perfect!”

He glanced at his creator, and Thomas gave him a smile. It was one of relief, as if Juke was helping to remove a weight from his shoulders. Thomas had gone through life trying to meet all of Patton’s strict standards, and it had been a near nightmare. But Juke... Juke understood.

“Thomas is human,” said Juke. “And while I can appreciate your desire for him to be a good person, you are going about it the wrong way. Logan... you said that it’s impossible for someone to be entirely honest. Well, it’s also impossible for someone to be entirely good. Thomas is human, so he will make mistakes. And that’s ok if he does. Because even if he does, in his core... he is a good man. He may be selfish at times, he may lie, he may procrastinate, he may not do the things he should, but... that’s ok too. It’s all a part of being human. And sometimes, Patton... Thomas needs to look after himself. And no one... NO ONE... should EVER be told... that their needs or desires come second to someone else’s. Least of all from you. For any of us.”

He paused for a moment to take another deep breath. This was all wearing on him so much. He’d been in the shadows for so long, striking only when needed. This much confrontation was exhausting...

“We are Thomas’s Sides,” he finally said. “All of us. We all want what’s best for him, and we all want to protect him and keep him happy and healthy. Even if our talents or jobs may seem bad or unconventional... we are all equally important. But we all have to remember... we are not the ones in charge. We guide Thomas, not control him. And above all, we have to remember that he is human...and we must let him slip up and make mistakes sometimes...”

He fiddled with the blanket, one hand going to the hat on his head. His hands shook as his eyes steeled, looking as if he was making a big decision. He let he blanket fall to the ground, revealing the pajama shirt and shorts he was wearing. He took his hat off and let it fall to the ground as well. 

The Sides could all see that he was still ill. They could see his pallid skin and his dull scales. They could see scars from previous battles within the dangerous imaginations or even with previous Sides. They could see the patches of scales that ran down his limbs and crawled under the collar of his shirt. They could all see the glowing golden eye and the dark brown one too.

“I have hidden from all of you for so long,” he said. “Layered myself with capes and hats and gloves. Tried so hard to look less threatening for you, Thomas. Because I knew that they would drag my name through the mud when we met. And they didn’t disappoint. I hid Remus because I was terrifed that Thomas would reject him and he’d die too. But I’m not hiding anymore.” 

He held his arms out to his sides, and four more sprouted. 

“Look at me! I am Juke! I was known as Deceit! I am Thomas’s Self Preservation and his protector. You can all judge me as you see fit, but you will remember the real me. You will remember me here before you all, baring my soul to you.”

Remus sniffled and wiped his eyes, smiling with pride at Juke. The other Sides all looked at him in awe, never having seen such behavior from him before. He had always slunk around like the snake he resembled, speaking cryptically and guardedly. To do this... it was so out of character for him.

Juke’s extra limbs vanished and he swayed on his feet. Remus jumped up to catch him, but it was Patton who got there first. He caught the Side and they both sunk to the ground, Juke leaning against the other.

“I...” Patton sniffled. “I... I’m sorry, De... Juke. Juke. I never wanted this. I never wanted people to die. I never wanted you to feel you had to hide for your safety. I just wanted Thomas to be a good person so that he could have a good life and not get in trouble or go to prison. I got carried away and I let my mission blind me. I didn’t see all that it was costing us. And... I took your sons from you. If anyone had taken mine from me... I would have been devastated.”

He wiped his face and then wiped Juke’s tears away as well.

“I was wrong. I was wrong to do this. To all of you.” He glanced around the room. “It wasn’t fair of me to be so strict and split you up. It wasn’t fair of me to judge you, and... it wasn’t fair of me to always try to take control.”

He handed Juke over to Remus and stood up to address the others properly.

“Thomas... I love you. I’m proud of the man you’ve become and I’ll always be proud of the things you do. I can see that Juke is right. I wanted you tobe perfect, but it’s impossible. It’s not fair to you and it’s not good for you to try to be so pure. I’m sorry, Kiddo. I promise I’ll do better.”

He turned to the other Sides and gave a small smile.

“That goes for you all too. I promise I’ll do better in treating you as you should be treated and I’ll... ease up on the reins a bit. And I’ll certainly never split us up again. No matter what, we’re all a family. And it’s high time we all came together and acted like one. No matter who you are or what you do.”

Thomas stood up and pulled Patton into a hug.

“Thanks, Patton. I love you too. I’m so glad to have you for my Morality.”

The other Sides stood and joined in the hug while Emile smiled from his seat. Well, this had gone better than he’d hoped. Progress would be slow, but there was hope that it could happen.

Remus helped Juke stand and began to take him back to the window.

“Hang on, Juke...” Virgil broke from the group hug and cleared his throat. “I want a turn now. WIth you. We have our own issues to deal with...”


	10. A Father's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And thus, all the ends are neatly tied up and the plot is pushed forward...

Emile looked at Juke, and the snake side nodded. He expected this. He and Virgil had not left on good terms, and he had not yet been truthful as to the reason.

Remus helped Juke back to the chair, and Virgil sat in the other empty one. The others moved their chairs so that they could sit together and not be so split. Patton sat next to Remus and awkardly pat his back. There was some bad blood there, but at least Remus didn’t las out or snap at him to stop.

Patton took it as a good sign and left his hand on Remus’s back.

“You know what we have to talk about,” Virgil said slowly. “You know what I’m going to ask. I should be asking both of you, but I know it all stemmed from you. Remus may march to the beat of his own drum, but he’s still a Mama’s boy deep down.”

Remus huffed from his chair, but said nothing. Juke sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. He knew what Virgil was talking about. He knew he had to come clean and hope that Virgil wouldn’t hate him. Like his counterpart, he too had hurt someone with good intentions...

“A long time ago, you kicked me out of the family,” Virgil continued. He heard a gasp or two from the others. He hadn’t told anyone about this, and so this was the first time they were hearing it.

“You pushed me to be with Patton and the others,” said Virgil. “You told me that I was ungrateful and... and you said some other shitty things. And you and Remus both told me to go and not come back. I want to know why you did this if you really did love me so much?”

Juke was silent for a moment. The other sides thought he looked... old. Defeat and despair were written on his face and in his eyes, and he looked as if he had fought a dozen wars in the past.

Perhaps he had.

Patton was slowly starting to realize just how grand the disconnect was between their families. His own had lived a pampered life full of warmth and light and love from their creator. Juke’s family had lived in fear and darkness. They’d had the very real threat of death over their heads, and they had suffered for it. But under it all, they had loved each other still.

It only made Patton even more resolved to right the wrongs he had done.

“Those... were the hardest lies I’ve ever had to tell,” Juke said softly. “But I told them all because I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to leave and be with Patton. To... to leave and be safe.”

Virgil blinked. He hadn’t expected that.

“What do you mean?” He asked. “Why would I have been safe? And if those were lies, why did you say them?” He stood up angrily, letting years of anger fall out of his mouth. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?! How much I cried over losing you two?! You said you loved me so much, and then you did that? Why? **WHY?!**”

**“BECAUSE I COULDN’T BEAR TO LOSE YOU!”** Juke jumped up, voice a deep roar. His eyes were glowing gold, staring into Virgil’s bright violet ones. The others jumped back, huddling away from the two quarreling sides. Emile stayed in his seat, unfazed by it all, but he sent a silent signal to the others to keep Thomas behind them.

“I had already lost three children to death,” Juke’s volume was lower, but his voice wasn’t any less raw. “And another three to imprisonment! I heard what they said about you. I could tell how Thomas felt. I had nightmares of you dying in my arms like Pan did. I had nightmares of you crying and asking me why didn’t I save you?”

He paused to catch his breath, and the others could see tears in his eyes.

“I couldn’t save the others... but I could still save you. I could... I could protect you. I could make sure you would survive...” Juke collapsed to his knees, but the others stayed away. “I was terrified of what might happen to us, that we may all eventually die out. So when the others finally began to accept you, I saw a savior. And you... you had already confessed that you liked being with them, but you were too scared to go to them.”

Virgil was crying now, shaking slightly with his emotion. Patton moved to comfort him, but Logan kept him back. He shook his head, and Patton stayed put.

“I thought... if you went with them, then Thomas would love you too. He would accept you, and you wouldn’t be rejected like the others. You wouldn’t die, you would live and even if I had to give you up to ensure your safety... I was prepared to do it,” Juke wiped at his eyes. “So I lied. I said horrible things, and I asked Remus to help me. We wanted to make sure you would never want to return. You would want to stay with them. And you would be safe while you did so. I am so sorry for what I said. I regret it to this day, and I cried over you for weeks after you left. If I could go back and do it differently, I would. I swear I would.”

Virgil was silent as Juke finished. For the longest time, he’d thought that Juke really did hate him. He’d acted aggresively and catty towards Juke all this time, which the other had reciprocated once or twice, but never with the true barb he’d seen Juke use before.

Juke had tried so hard to shield them from the horrors of the world. He’d helped Virgil grow and shaped his views on life and other people. He’d helped Virgil come to terms with his duties and even shown him how needed he was.

Which was why it had hurt all the more when Juke had supposedly kicked him out. Virgil had even blamed himself for the longest time. He thought perhaps he hadn’t been good enough or he had done something to insult or hurt Juke prior to that.

Never had he even thought that Thomas might have been ready to reject him. Perhaps even stifle him with medication. Would Virgil have died? Would he have faded like his brothers? The thought was suddenly terrifying...

Virgil knelt before Juke, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He was too wound with emotion, too choked to make a sound. But he did wrap his arms around Juke.

“You hurt me so much that night,” he finally said after a while. “I hated myself after that. I hated you for even longer.”

“I know I’m a hypocrite for calling out Patton for hurting others despite having good intentions,” said Juke. “And I know I should never have done what I did, but I was desperate and I was terrified that I didn’t have much time before Thomas did something about you. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“Maybe one day I’ll forgive you,” said Virgil. “But not now. I understand what you did, but it was still wrong. It still hurt. Maybe one day I’ll forgive you...”

“I’m sorry, my little storm cloud.”

Virgil flinched at his nickname from so long ago. He sunk into Juke’s arms and stayed silent as the other cried on his shoulder.

Behind the others, Thomas watched it all happen... and he briefly wondered if this was how it felt to be a god. To hold the lives and deaths of these parts of him in his hands. To have already killed some of them before, even if he’d had no idea of their existence. To be loved by some and feared by others.

No more. He had to fix things.

“We’re going to find the others,” he said. Everyone looked at him in shock and confusion. “Remus said he hid them somewhere. We can find them and bring them back. And then we’re all going to have a long talk and there will be no more splits. All of you will be on the same level, and all of you will be listened to. As it should be. Remus, do you know where they are?”

Remus scratched the back of his head.

“I... well, no. I hid them all in your subconscious, but it’s a very very big place. I tried seeing them again after a week, but they were all gone. They must have gotten seperated or warped away. I mean, it happens sometimes. You’re not exactly in control of that place...”

Thomas frowned and pursed his lips in thought.

“Then we’ll find them,” he said.

“Virgil cannot go there,” said Logan. “The environment will only heighten his fear and it will not end well. Remus can go because he knows how to navigate the area best, and Roman will stay behind with Virgil.”

“Why do I have to stay behind?” Roman asked angrily.

“Your talents may become warped while down there, which can cause even more danger,” said Logan. “I’m sorry, but it’s best you stay here.”

“He’s right, Kiddo,” said Patton. “But I’m going too. All of this is my fault, and I need to make things right. It’s the least I can do to start making things up to all of you.”

Thomas nodded, and looked over at Juke.

“We’ll wait until he recovers,” said Thomas. “I have a feeling he’s not going to stay behind, and I’d rather he not be sick when we go. So we’ll go and get... um... He Juke! What were their names?”

Juke slowly managed a smile as he looked over from his hug with Virgil.

“Tristan is your Sorrow. Devlin is your Anger. Vixen is your Libido. I’ll go with you to find them. I failed them once, I will not fail them again.”

It was decided. They would rescue the missing Sides.


	11. Out of the Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and the others begin their journey...

It took another week for Deceit to recover enough that Thomas was comfortable with him going with them to the Subconscious. In that time, the divide between the Sides had lifted. They all shared one home now, one of warmth and love. Remus and Juke’s rooms had been moved to the same hallway that housed the others. Remus had been overjoyed, running up and down the hallway, now able to do so without seeing the sealed rooms.

Patton had unsealed the rooms, but no one had dared to enter them. It didn’t feel right to do so after so much time, and Juke had forbid anyone from doing so. The rightful owners of those rooms would be the ones to enter them when they returned.

But Patton still saw Juke peek into them, cracking the doors slightly to look.

Thomas had gathered the others, ready to find the missing pieces of himself.

“How do we get there?” He asked.

“No one really knows how to get to the Subconcious,” said Logan. “It’s a place that cannot be controlled or manipulated to one’s liking. It’s like... an independent ecosystem within your mind. Remus is perhaps the only one who can get there and knows his way around, if only slightly.”

“He’s right,” said Remus. “It’s where I go to talk to you about your thoughts. But it’s a big place. Bigger than an elephant’s butt.”

“Well, as long as we stick together, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said Patton. “We go in, find the others, and then get out.”

“Easier said than done,” Juke shook his head. “Remus, you know the most about this place, will you guide us?”

“Aye,” Remus saluted. “I’ll do my best. I haven’t been able to find them after all these years, though...”

“But now we have Thomas,” said Juke. “We’ll find them.”

Thomas had to admit he was nervous. This whole thing sounded dangerous to him. He was worried what this would do to his mental state, and if that would affect the other sides as well...

But he had promised Juke he would help. And Juke deserved help after everything that had been happening all of Thomas’s life.

“If we’re all ready... we can go,” said Remus. “Just brace yourself. It’s going to be a very bumpy ride. And if you’re not careful... you can get lost very easily. And then we’ll never see you again.”

He laughed as he struck the ground with his morningstar. The ground began to break apart and collapse under the group. Thomas only had enough time to gasp before he fell into darkness...

When he finally woke up... the world around them was dark and... bare. It had a ground that seemed to be made of stone and rock, and there were mountains in the distance and some random fauna and landmarks here and there.

But the sky reminded Thomas of a full moon behind a wall of storm clouds. Thunder and lightning rumbled in the distance, making the others nervous.

“This is it?” Patton looked around. “Oh golly... what a sad place.”

“It’s not meant to be as pleasent as our current residence,” Logan helped Thomas up.

“Eh, it’s not so bad when you get used to it,” Remus said, sitting on a stone bench. “This is my little spot. I come here to tell Thomas to jump out of moving vehicles.”

Other than the bench, there wasn’t much else. 

“Do you have other camps?” Logan asked. Remus shook his head.

“I’d get lost if I went wandering too much. I try to keep my searches close by. The only time I ever really ventured far far away from here... I almost got lost and stuck here. I wasn’t about to put Mama through that.”

Juke sighed, looking around, trying to make some sense of where they were.

“We musn’t dawdle. If we stay here too long we may forget how to get back,” he said. “Thomas, I need your help in finding them.”

“Sure,” Thomas shrugged. “What can I do to help?” He was just as lost as the others, unsure of what to do or where to go. Everything felt so foreign to him here. Like it was a seperate part of him. He didn’t like it one bit.

“I need you to focus,” said Juke. “It’s like going to a Side’s room. These are your Sides and you can find them if you want to. You just have to feel the right things.”

“What should I feel?” Thomas asked.

“I vote Vixie,” said Remus. “He’s the safest bet right now, and he’d have a more level head than Devlin or Tristan.”

“Vixie?” Patton repeated. “Oh, you mean the Pink one? Wore the coat and those boots?”

His nervous smile slowly faded under the glare of Remus and Juke. 

“His name...” Juke said with a deadly calm. “Is Vixen. And you will address him as such. It’s not our fault you never bothered to get to know any of us-”

“You two calm down,” Thomas interrupted. “He’s here to help. I may not know what all happened in the past, but I know that this isn’t the place to fight. You can yell at each other when er get back. Or better yet, I’ll send you back to Emile.”

“Thomas is right,” Logan adjusted his glasses. “We cannot afford to quarrel among ourselves. We must stay together and help each other or we will all lose. Thomas, I suggest you begin whatever exercise Juke was about to ask you to do.”

“You’ll need to think thoughts that arouse you,” Juke said. Thomas blushed a deep red and blinked a few times.

“Wha?”

“Oh this is no time to be bashful,” Juke shook his head. “We’re you. We know your thoughts. It’s nothing one of us hasn’t heard before.”

“Especially me,” Remus grinned. “You’re quite kinky.”

And then with Remus’s little push... the thoughts came rolling in with Thomas powerless to stop them. As he continued to blush deeper, Juke noticed a pink glow on the horizon. 

“There!” He pointed. “Vixen must be over there. Thomas, keep those thoughts up. We’ll need them to guide us. Come on, everyone!”

“Why?” Thomas groaned, covering his face as he followed. “Why did we start with him...?”


	12. Lost and Now Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so short. I really should have combined this one with the last chapter...

Logan had a bad feeling.

Well, it wasn’t a feeling, per se. But he sensed that something was wrong. They had all been walking towards the pink glow for a good while now, Remus keeping up a babbling commentary about randomg things if only to keep the the silence from becoming unbearable. Patton was looking horrified at some of the things Remus was talking about, but Juke seemed completely unfazed.

But underneath it, Logan could see the subtle clues that he was worried.

No, not just worried. He was scared.

“Everyone stop,” Logan suddenly said. The group did slow to a stop, confusion written on their faces.

“What’s going on?” Thomas asked. He looked at Logan and then at the others, but they didn’t know what was going on either.

“Juke,” Logan fixed the other with a hard look. “Why was it such a big deal about choosing who to find first? Why did Remus mention that Vixen would be more level headed? If we’re walking into a potentially dangerous situation, then I’d like to know.”

Juke pressed his lips into a thin line as Patton and Thomas turned to look at him. The subtle cues all vanished under Juke’s schooled expression. Logan had to admire how well Juke could hide his inner thoughts, but this was serious.

“They’ve gone through trauma,” said Juke. “And they’ve been trapped here for years and years. Not to mention, the reason for their imprisonment is here with us. I merely thought that having Vixen on our side would help calm the other two. Sorrow and Anger can be dangerous if provoked. I am simply looking out for Thomas’s safety. Vixen is protective, but he won’t fly off the handle.”

What did handles have to do with anything? Logan shook his head.

“Juke, you-”

“We need to keep going,” Juke turned around and walked off. “If Thomas gets distracted, we’ll lose the light and then we’ll get lost. Let’s keep walking.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at the retreating Side. Juke was hiding something, and he was going to figure out what it was...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Are we there yet?” Thomas said wearily. They had all been walking for even longer now, but it was hard to tell how much further it was. “If only this was the real world. I’d have burned so many calories...”

“You can still exercise when we get back,” Patton smiled, rubbing Thomas’s back. “I know it’s a lot for you right now, but think of how much better things will be when we’re done.”

“It shouldn’t be much further,” Remus mused, walking around. “There aren’t a lot of places around here he could be hiding in so he must be out in the open...”

He grunted in frustration and stamped his foot against the ground. A crack formed and more began to spread from beneath Remus, encompassing the others.

“Remus,” Juke sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you-”

But he was interrupted as the ground fell away.

Thomas screamed, plunging down into darkness once more, but this time he landed on something soft and bouncy. He barely had time to register the blankets and pillows before someone spoke.

“It’s raining men! Hallelujah!”

Thomas sat up and looked over to see... himself. This Side was wearing a pink and white striped crop top and pink shorts. Matching stockings went up to his thighs, and a pink fur coat was the crown jewel of the ensemble. But what Thomas really liked was his face. It reminded Thomas of when he had his makeup done. Full glam, as he’d been told.

“Wait... Thomas?” The Side blinked in confusion before his face lit up. “Thomas!”

The Side darted forward and swept Thomas up into a hug. With the heeled boots, this Side was taller, but not too much. The Side began to giggle giddily and ruffled Thomas’s hair.

“How did you get here? Are you lost? Oh no! Oh, this isn’t good. Maybe I can find some way to get you back-”

“VIXIE!”

The Side let go of Thomas and turned around just in time to catch Remus’s tackle.

“Remus! Little brother! Look how much you’ve grown! I can’t believe it’s really you!”

“Mama’s here too!” Remus excitedly gestured behind himself, but Juke was already rushing forward as well. He hugged Vixen with all six arms and sobbed into his shoulder. Vixen began to cry too, mumbling about his makeup.

“Juke... are you really here? I feel like this is a dream,” he said.

“No, it’s really us,” Juke choked out between sobs. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know this was going to happen. I should have protected you better...”

Thomas smiled as he watched the three Sides reunite. Obviously there was a lot of love in that family.

“Um...” he awkwardly cleared his throat. “You’re Vixen, right?”

The other Side froze before turning around again. He passed a hand over his face, and his makeup was suddenly immaculate again.

“That’s me,” Vixen struck a pose and winked. “Vixen. I represent your libido... and I think I’m also your feminine side? I’m not sure, I didn’t really have a chance to talk with you about that. Oh god, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help you through puberty. I tried to do what I could from here, but not much gets through to you.”

“It’s ok,” Thomas said. “You’re here now. We came here to find you and your brothers. I found out about what happened between you all and I want to fix it.”

“Yeah,” Patton said as he finally walked over with Logan. “We’re here to rescue you.”

At Patton’s words, Vixen’s eyes darkened. He slowly turned to regard the moral side with the coldest glare Thomas had ever seen.

**“Why is Patton here?”** Vixen’s tone sent a shudder down Thomas’s spine.


	13. Not My Forgiveness

Patton could safely say that he had been this terrified only once before, and that was when Juke had tried to strangle him to death against the floor.

While Vixen was not the most violent of Sides, he was no less protective. A blind man could see how much he cherished and loved his family, and Patton had been the one to hurt them.

It also didn’t help that Patton was the shortest of Sides and Vixen was tall even without his heeled boots...

Vixen’s eyes were glowing pink, and his long painted nails were making him bleed from his clutched fists. Thomas reached out to try to calm him down, but Vixen suddenly moved forward.

Patton yelped and stumbled back, watching Vixen reach into his coat and pull out a deadly looking nine tailed whip.

“Vixen,” Juke moved to stand in front of him. He was a little shorter than Vixen, but not by much. He stood in front of the other with no fear in his eyes. He knew Vixen wouldn’t hurt him.

“Vixen, stop. He understand what he did was wrong and he’s going to do whatever he can to redeem himself,” said Juke. Patton nodded furiously behind him.

“Oh,” Vixen said, deadly calm. “So because you say he’s going to redeem himself... that suddenly makes everything better?” Vixen stomped his foot.** “BULLSHIT! This coward locked me away and imprisoned me! He took me from my family! He took me from Thomas! Your forgiveness is not my forgiveness! You have no right to invalidate my feelings and decide that I shouldn’t have the right to confront the one who hurt me!”**

Thomas moved as if to help Patton, but Logan held him back. This was not their fight.

**“How many of us did that little rat toss aside?!”** Vixen snarled. **“And for the dumbest reasons! How many of us died because of him?! Died needlessly! I have every right to be angry at him, and I have every right to hate him!”**

The leather of Vixen’s whip creaked as the pink side twisted it between his hands. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to let it fly and tear the flesh from Patton’s back. But he stood still as Juke blocked his way.

“I’m not saying any of that,” said Juke. “If you want to get your revenge, that’s your business. But for now, we have to put that aside. Your brothers are still out there, and we need to find them fast. Do you have any idea where they could be?”

Thomas watched in amazement as Vixen slowly calmed down, the whip vanishing from his grasp. He slumped slightly, looking tired and pained. Remus walked over to pull Vixen into a hug, and Vixen all but clung to him.

“I know it hurts,” Remus said softly. “It hurt us too. Mama was a wreck after what happened, and Virgil and I cried. I’m just so happy to see you again, and I want to see Devlin and Tristan too. Please... help us find them. Forget about Patton for now.”

Vixen smiled softly and buried his face in Remus’s hair. He was taking deep breaths to calm down, and Patton took the opportunity to move and join Thomas and Logan in their group.

“Look at them,” Patton said after a moment. “How could I have broken that up?”

“You were blinded by your duties,” said Logan. “It is understandable, but not excusable.”

“You thought you were doing the right thing,” Thomas agreed.

“I have so much to learn, don’t I?” Patton said sadly. Vixen finally let go of Remus and made his way back over to Thomas. He gave a glare at Patton, but didn’t arm himself again.

“Juke and Remus say we’re going to find Tristan and Devlin,” he said. “I’ll help in anyway I can. Patton.. you’re not off my hook, and I doubt you ever will be. I’ll yell at you later. But... I want a guarantee right now that I’ll be included in helping Thomas. I was supposed to teach him about safe sex and reproduction and things like how to tell what your kinks are and how to establish safe words and boundaries and how to tie your partner to the headboard without hurting their wrists.”

“What?” Thomas squawked in shock. Vixen laughed in amusement.

“Ok, maybe not that last one,” he said. “But you get the point. All of that was taken from me! Wait... who taught Thomas about sex anyway? If you say Patton did, I am literally going to scream.”

“I did,” said Logan. “I gave him a very thorough explanation, but I didn’t tell him about those other things. It... it didn’t feel right to do another Side’s job. But I will give my word that you will be included in the future.”

“Oh thank god,” Vixen sighed in relief. “Well, at least he was in good hands. And being included was all I... all we ever wanted.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Thomas. “I really didn’t know. But you’ll see, it’s all changed now.”

“He movied our rooms, Vixie,” Remus said excitedly. “The hallway is so long now! And it’s so much brighter and warmer and the TV and couches are huge! You’ll like it there. You always did complain about the dim light making it hard to put on makeup.”

“I did,” Vixen mused. “Hmm...well, as long as you and Juke and others will be there, I’ll be happy- wait...” he blinked. “Wait, where’s Virgil? Is Virgil ok?”

“Virgil’s fine,” said Juke. “Thomas actually accepted him first. He’s been doing very well.”

Vixen sighed in relief again, clutching his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t see him with you and we were always worried about him-”

“He didn’t die,” Juke smiled. “And I will not let your brothers die either. I promise you we will find them.”

“If I may suggest...” Logan adjusted his glasses. “It would be best to continue our journey. I have a feeling the longer we’re here the harder it will to leave.”

“What Cutie said,” Vixen pointed at Logan. “Let’s split, guys.”

“Cutie?” Logan muttered to himself, blushing slightly.


	14. Got a Secret, Can you Keep it?

“I still can’t believe how much you’ve grown, Remus” Vixen said as they walked away from the little cave he’d set up his home in. “Last time I saw you, you were about this tall.” Vixen held his hand up to show a height that was much smaller than Remus’s current height. “So much has changed...”

“I have a proper castle now,” Remus said excitedly. Vixen gasped and smiled widely.

“No way! A real castle?”

“Yep, with guards and everything,” said Remus. “And with horses and big big dogs and banners and towers!”

“You have to show me when we get back,” Vixen ruffled Remus’s hair. Remus bat at Vixen’s hands and playfully pouted.

“Vixie! You’re ruining my hair!”

Vixen stuck his tongue out at Remus, showing that it was pierced with a silver barbell. He then laughed and ruffled Remus’s hair again.

“It’s so weird,” Thomas mused to Logan. “You guys all kept telling me how bad the dark sides were, but they’re not acting much different from you guys. I mean, they do act different, but... not deep down.”

“We have been a little... oversealous in our plan to keep you safe,” said Logan. “We did make unfair judgements without having all the facts, and... well, that was a bad thing to do. I did always think we should have let them join us, but Patton did manage to make some good points to keeping them away.”

“Hey Thomas,” Vixen turned around and walked backwards, facing Thomas. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh, no,” Thomas said slowly. “I’m... single for now.”

“Mmm,” Vixen nodded. “How about a fuck buddy?”

“Language!” Patton squeaked, fidgeting with the sleeves of his cardigan.

“Bite me, Patton,” Vixen sneered, painted lips curling in anger. They changed back to a smile as Vixen looked back at Thomas. “Well? Do you?”

“I don’t have one of those either,” Thomas said sheepishly. “I didn’t really have anyone to help me with that.”

“Well, you have me now, and we’re gonna work on that when we get back,” said Vixen. “Nothing wrong with letting off some steam every now and then.”

“He’s actually right,” said Logan. “Sex can help strengthen your immune system, help you sleep better, lower your blood pressure, and help improve your mental health as well.”

“Ooh, keep talking Cutie,” Vixen winked. “I like what you’re saying.”

Remus laughed as Logan blushed again.

“So,” Remus slowed to a stop with the others. “Who are we getting next?”

He shared a concerned look with Vixen and Juke, but neither spoke immediately.

“Ok, this again,” Logan looked between the sides. “Why is this decision so important? Why is so much weight put on who to rescue next? What are you hiding?”

“Logan,” Juke began.

“You didn’t tell them?” Vixen interrupted. “The hell? Juke, they need to know.”

“I was hoping no one would notice,” Juke hissed. “If they knew, they might not have agreed to help us rescue you all. Especially not Tristan or Devlin.”

“What are you talking about?” Thomas glanced between the others. “What’s going on?”

“They need to know,” said Vixen. “This affects them too. Either you tell them, or I will. And I’d love to see you try that silencing trick on me.”

Juke and Vixen stared each other down for a few minutes, and then Juke sighed.

“Fine,” said Juke. “But if they leave, I’m staying here to find the others.”

“Why do you think we’ll leave?” Thomas asked.

Juke sighed again, moving to sit on a nearby tree stump. He was silent for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He knew what the reason was for, and it had been a carefully guarded secret among him and the others. He doubted the so called light sides even had a clue.

“We always hated when you called us Dark Sides,” said Juke. “Because you had no idea what a Dark Side truly is.”

“Well, that’s not scary at all,” Patton said nervously. “What do you mean by that?”

“A Side can become corrupted,” Juke explained. “And when that happens, the Side can become a dark version of what they once were. Any side. Logic can become Skepticism, Self Preservation can become Selfishness, Creativity can become Delusion. And even you, Patton... Morality becomes Self Righteousness...”

Patton gasped. Him? A Dark Side? Oh, but what would that mean for Thomas? How would Thomas fare if he really became corrupted?

“Why did you never mention this before?” Thomas asked.

“You wouldn’t have believed me,” said Juke. “All of your Light Sides thought they were too pure to become corrupted, but corruption can affect anyone of us.”

“You’re worried Devlin and Tristan have become corrupted,” said Logan. “That’s why you’re carefully choosing who to rescue next. You’re worried someone may come to harm.”

“Indeed,” said Juke. “Anger and Sorrow are powerful emotions. If left unchecked, they can poison the mind and if that happens it’s near impossible to reverse the damage. My sons have been stuck here for years all alone and without me to help keep them from losing control. My fears of corruption are not unfounded.”

“There’s no way you could have known this unless it happened before,” said Logan. “Who was it who became corrupted?”

“Now that you’ll never get out of me,” said Juke. “I love him too much to betray his trust.”

“It was Virgil,” said Vixen. Juke glared at the other, but Vixen folded his arms and glared back.

“We can’t afford to keep secrets anymore,” said Vixen. “Look at what has happened because we hid things. Thomas deserves to know, and they deserve to know too. Or else it’ll happen again.”

“Virgil,” Patton sounded in shock. “Virgil... my dark strange son...”

“You have no right to call him your son!” Vixen snapped. “Not after what you did! Virgil was terrified of his job because you and your lot wouldn’t shut up about him being bad for Thomas. He was worried he’d fail or he’d get Thomas killed, and it caused him to become Paranoia.”

“He thought everyone was out to get him,” Remus said with a steely look. “He thought Thomas would snuff him out with medication. He thought Patton would make him fade away like Morey and Pan. And it got so much worse before we were able to help him get better.”

“That explains those days when I really was paranoid,” Thomas mused. “But if Virgil became corrupted and you helped him... you could do the same for the others, right?”

“Different circumstances,” said Juke. “I can’t guarantee we’ll be able to do it for Devlin or Tristan...”

Thomas weighed his options. He could leave. He could have Remus take him back and never worry about it again. But what would happen to him? Would his anger and sorrow take over one day? Would he always feel as if something was missing?

No, he had to stay. He had to help. He’d let things get this bad, and he’d promised to make things right. He would do it, even if it was going to be hard...

“We’ll go after Tristan next,” Thomas finally said. Juke looked at him in shock. Thomas still wanted to help them? Patton looked worried, but Logan looked as neutral as ever.

“You’ll need to think sad thoughts,” Juke said. He had a small grateful smile on his face. “That will help us find him.”

Thomas nodded and began thinking of anything that had ever made him sad before. In the distance, a grey misty glow appeared.

_“Through me is the way to the city of woe,”_ said Logan.

_“Through me is the way to sorrow eternal,”_ Remus answered.


	15. A Ghost from the Past

“I do not like the look of this,” Logan mused.

Their path had brought them to what looked like a ravine. It was mostly dark, the dim light from above only able to light it in patches. The rest was shadows so dark even Remus looked nervous.

“I’ve played enough video games to know that going into the dark probably isn’t the best idea,” said Thomas. “But I don’t see any other way around this. The sides are too steep to climb. Remus, could you conjure something to help?”

The Duke sadly shook his head.

“Nothing useful. I can conjure us a light to lead us, but not much else,” he said.

“Better than nothing,” Vixen said. “And I can run in these heels if the need arises. Plus Remus and I are armed.”

“Why do you two have weapons?” Patton asked.

“Remus’s side of the imagination can be dangerous at times,” said Juke. “I don’t have a weapon myself, but my extra arms can be deadly when they want to be.”

“Would something bad really be down there?” Thomas asked, nervously chewing his thumbnail. If something was, he didn’t want to go any further. But at the same time, he made a promise. He promised to help find the missing Sides, and anyway they were still part of him. He wanted to find them to help his own mental health as well.

“No one knows,” said Logan. “The Subconscious isn’t a place we really populate. Ergo, we don’t know much about it. I can influence any of us, and you too. But we have no control over this place like the Mind Palace...”

“In short, you stay in the middle of us, Thomas,” said Juke. “We’ll protect if you if anything does pop up.”

Thomas nodded, and the group began their descent into the ravine. Remus conjured a lit torch, holding it high and walking in the front to light the way. Everyone else crowded into the light, terrified to step into the darkness.

“We’ll be ok,” Thomas said softly, as though trying to reassure himself.

“Just keep swimming,” Patton sang softly to himself. “Just keep swimming.”

Logan didn’t have it in him to correct Patton that they were not swimming.

All was silent until...

_“Juke!”_

Juke flinched.

“Who said that?” He asked.

“It wasn’t us,” Patton said, looking around uneasily. “It sounded like it came from-”

_“Juke!”_

Juke whirled around, hearing it again. It was coming from one of the patches of shadows nearby. He narrowed his eyes, ready for whatever it could be.

But then his eyes went wide.

It looked like a ghost. A shade of someone just standing there at the edge of the light, but Juke could recognize them. They didn’t look any different than he remembered...

“P-Pan?”

Remus and Vixen gasped, Vixen’s hands flying up to cover his mouth, expression falling into a distraught one. Was it really their brother? Had he really come back? Is there where faded Sides went?

“No don’t,” Logan reached out to grab Juke as the other side moved as if to walk closer to Pan. “We don’t know what it is.”

“Are you blind?!” Juke snapped. “That’s Pan! That’s my son! He’s right there. We have to help him get back with us!”

“No don’t!” Logan held tighter.

“Mama!” Remus handed the torch to Patton and reached out to grab Juke too.

“Let me go!” Juke struggled, summoning his extra hands. “Let me go! I have to save him!”

_“Juke...”_ the ghost whispered. _“Help me. Please... please help me. It hurts. It hurts so much. I want to go home!”_

“I know, it’s ok...” Juke said, tears welling up in his arms. “It’s ok, Pan. We’ll take you home. We’ll be a family again. Let. **GO!”**

His eyes glowed yellow as his voice rang out in a roar. He continued to struggle, trying to pry the others’ hands off of him. When that didn’t work, he began to heave forward, dragging the two with him.

“No! Mama, stop! That’s not Pan!” Remus cried. With the eyes of someone who had seen his fair share of tricks and illusions, he could see this ghost was not Pan at all. It had to be something else. Some kind of lure? Then what was controlling it in the dark?

Either way, he wasn’t about to let Juke find out.

“Guys, help! Please!” Remus said, as he dug his heels into the ground. He yelped when Vixen’s whip wrapped around Juke, and the other Side pulled hard to hold him still. Patton looked distressed, and the torch began to waver. Thomas ran over to catch it just as it started to slip from Patton’s grasp.

“Let me go!” Juke continued. “I have to help my son! Pan! Pan, come here. Please come here. I’ll take you home, I promise.”

_“I need your help,”_ the ghost began to move back further into the dark. _“Please help me, Juke...”_

“No! No!” Remus pulled harder. Juke was right at the edge of the light, close enough to almost touch it-

**“DECEIT!”**

Logan had moved to shield Juke from the darkness, clutching the other’s shoulders in his hands while his eyes glowed dark blue.

**“Deceit, listen to me!”**

“What? Why are you calling me that? I told you my...” Juke blinked, trying to look around Logan to see Pan. But Logan kept Juke’s eyes on him.

“Deceit... Pan is dead. You told us yourself. He died in your arms. Don’t you remember?” Logan asked. Juke narrowed his eyes.

“No! H-He’s back! H-He’s right there! How can you even begin to understand-”

“I can’t,” Logan said gently. “I’ve never lost a member of my family. But I know it hurt you. I know it hurts now. But you have to believe us, Juke. Pan is dead. And he’s not coming back. This place is trying to trick you. Here, look!”

He turned Juke around to look at the others.

“Look! This is your family. They’re still here. They don’t want to lose you. You have to think logically now, Juke. You know that Pan is gone. Please... please don’t leave your family behind to chase after a ghost.”

Juke finally noticed the whip around his middle. He saw Remus’s crying face as the other side held him tightly. Juke’s extra arms faded as he crumpled. Logan managed to hold him up, and Remus let Juke sob into his shoulder.

“It’s ok, Juke,” Vixen removed his whip and wrapped an arm around Juke. “It’s ok. We’re here. We love you.”

“Patton, help us,” Logan said. “Let’s move quickly.”

Patton took the torch from Thomas and quickly marched the others through the ravine. As they moved, other voices called out from the shadows. Other faces peered out. Juke finally had to clench his eyes shut and cover his ears with his hands.

“Stop. Please... please just stop!” He sobbed, crying out in anguish. Remus swung his morning star into the shadows as if it would help. The voices did begin to fade as they finally left the ravine.

Juke collapsed to the ground, still sobbing. Remus held him as he did so, and Vixen stroked Juke’s hair.

“That... was horrible!” Patton sniffled, wiping at his eyes. “What was that?!”

“I don’t know,” Logan sighed. “But it’s behind us now. Let’s rest for a bit and then we’ll continue.”

Thomas stood away from the group, visibly shaken. He felt even worse about their rescue mission, the effects of this odd place taking its toll. He could only hope they would find the other two sides soon.

He felt like he was losing his mind...


	16. Sorrow's Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another filler chapter. The conversation between Logan and Vixen would not leave so I had to use it.

Logan noticed Thomas’s distressed look and frowned.

“Obviously this journey is taking more of a toll on Thomas’s mental health than I thought. I propose another break.”

“Yes!” Thomas pointed at Logan. “But I also want to know what the hell happened back there! What was that?!”

The others looked over at Juke, Remus, and Vixen for an explanation. Juke was still clinging to Remus and sobbing softly into his shoulder. Vixen sighed.

“Look,” he said. “Blame Father Dearest over there for keeping all this shit from you. But what you have to understand is that sorrow is a powerful emotion. As such, Tristan has a lot of power. He’s been stewing here for years with no one else with him. Obviously he didn’t like that, and he’s gotten worse. He can influence things around him, and he probably did with the ravine. He can’t help it, it’s just what he does.”

“So all of those ghosts and faces...” Thomas said slowly.

“The death of our brothers was trauamatic for everyone,” said Remus. “And it was something we all cried over for weeks. Tristan’s influence pulled those sad memories out and brought them to life.”

“It’s very common for one sad memory to trigger a figurative landslide of other sad memories,” Logan mused. “Fascinating...”

“No, it’s not fascinating,” Thomas said. “It’s scary.”

“But... why weren’t we affected?” Patton asked. “If that’s what he does...”

“Do you have any sad memories?” Vixen raised an eyebrow. “Memories that don’t belong to Thomas and are purely yours?”

Patton was silent. When that silence continued for a good few minutes, Remus rolled his eyes.

“We warned you that this wouldn’t be easy,” he said. “We’re staging a rescue for Sides that have been down here for far too long. Obviously, it’s going to be harder than a rubbed dick.”

“But we can’t give up,” Juke said, finally out of tears. He wiped at his face and sniffled. “We have to get them. If they stay down here any longer, who knows what it will do to you, Thomas. Let’s take a break and then we’ll continue.”

“I need a moment to myself,” Vixen stood up. “I’ll be nearby, don’t worry.” He walked down a nearby path and out of view of the others. Logan watched him leave, eyes narrowing slightly.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to him,” he said, walking to follow the other side. He found Vixen with his hands clasped and pressed against his forehead, staring out over the distance of dark land.

“Touch Starvation.”

Vixen whirled around, seeing Logan standing there. Logan’s eyes were narrowed slightly in thought, and his hand was at his chin.

“Excuse me?” Vixen asked, unsure of what Logan had said.

“Touch Starvation,” Logan repeated. “I’ve read about the symptoms, but I’ve never actually seen them before...”

“What are you talking about?” Vixen asked, shifting his weight and putting his hands on his hips.

“You’ve been clinging to either Remus or Juke ever since we found you,” Logan explained, walking closer. “And they’ve yet to react, so this must be a common occurance. And then there’s your coat...”

Vixen unconsciously drew his coat tighter around him, rubbing his fingers through the soft fur. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like what Logan was saying. It made him feel far more naked than he’d ever felt or been before.

“Juke wears a cape,” he said in his defense. But Logan shook his head.

“A cape of lightweight material that serves purely for aesthetic,” he said. “It can serve no other purpose. Not like a heavy and warm fur coat. A fur coat that can simulate being held or hugged...”

Vixen’s grip on his coat was white knuckled. Now he really didn’t like what was being said to him. It angered him to hear it from a Side that had barely met him before this time.

It angered him more that what Logan was saying sounded so real.

“It makes sense,” Logan mused, more to himself than to Vixen. “Your job is Thomas’s libido after all. Sex is a heavily physical intimacy and it would make sense for you to crave touch in such a manner. But I can’t help but be curious if you ever engaged in sexual activity with other Sides-”

SMACK!

Logan yelped as his head jerked to the side and his glasses nearly fell off his face. He looked back at Vixen with a shocked expression, whose hand was still twisted to the side, and whose eyes bore into Logan’s with steel.

“Don’t ever... _ever_... talk about me like that again,” said Vixen. “Like I’m some thing you can examine under a microscope. Like you have any idea what’s going on in my own mind.”

Logan realized he’d commited a faux pas in societal etiquette. He cleared his throat and straightened his glasses.

“My apologies,” he said. “I often do that without thinking, but that is no excuse for my behavior. I shall endeavour to be a bit less... speculative in the future.”

Vixen sighed, folding his arms instead. He looked at Logan for a moment before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Logan’s cheek.

“You’re cute,” he said. “And you’re nice. And I’m growin to like you. Don’t fuck it up.”

And then he was gone, walking past Logan and leaving the logical side to stare after him, hand pressed against a blushing cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, please comment. Also, if anyone wants to make fanart or share the links for this fic, you are all welcome to do so. I also have a tumblr blog that you can come hang out on at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com
> 
> Also, I made a post about how Vixen looks on my blog. You can see it here: https://beautiful-doom.tumblr.com/post/189875696916/through-the-powers-of-filters-i-give-you-vixen


	17. The Rain Before the Tempest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR NON GRAPHIC MENTIONS OF SELF HARM! Our sad boi is finally revealed.

They did eventually get going again, but they hadn’t made it far before it started to rain.

Patton conjured an umbrella and held it over Thomas, but the others didn’t bother. It was just rain, after all.

“Tristan’s influence again?” Logan asked, glancing up at the dark sky.

“Probably,” Juke said, water dripping from his hat.

“Great,” Thomas groaned. “Why do I feel like we’re heading into some kind of boss battle?”

“It won’t be a battle,” Remus said. “Think Undertale. We’re not going to fight him, we’re going to spare him.”

“I have to agree,” said Logan. “I cannot help but think a battle would not do well for your mental health.”

“It wouldn’t,” said Juke. “The death of a side will always have a bad effect on Thomas. That’s why a dead side’s duties have to pass to another one. There’s a balance we must maintain to allow Thomas to function well. If it’s ever upset... Thomas will probably lose his mind.”

“What?!” Thomas looked terrified. “So this whole time you guys were dying in your home, I could have gone crazy? Patton, Logan... did you know about this?”

“Well, no,” Patton said, scratching at the back of his head. “I mean, as your heart and emotions, I always did what I could to keep you steady and happy. I didn’t think you needed the negative emotions.”

“Which is why we’re in this situation to begin with,” Juke snapped. “Things may be hectic when we bring them back to the mind palace, but Thomas, your mind will adjust and then things will be even better.”

“Well...” Thomas still looked nervous. “As long as I don’t go crazy, then fine. I’m trusting you, Juke.”

“Guys, lets keep going,” Vixen said, silently thanking his luck for using waterproof makeup. “We need to get to Tristan.”

As if in answer to their words, the rain came down even heavier with a flash of lightning, and the fog lifted slightly to reveal a figure nearby. Thomas looked at whoever it was, and his eyes widened. It was a shock to see himself in such a state.

Tristan wore a plain grey shirt with jeans that were torn at the knees. There were heavy bags under his grey eyes, his hair was a mess, and he was soaked to the bone.

But what was most unsettling were the bandages tied around his wrists.

“No!” Vixen said softly, covering his mouth with his hands. “No, no, no, no, no....”

“Tristan!” Juke called out over the heavy rain. Tristan slowly turned to look at the crowd. “Tristan, we’re here for you! We’ve come to take you home!”

Tristan’s eyes widened. He slowly walked closer, looking skittish. Juke had to stop himself from rushing forward, remembering that Tristan didn’t like to be tackled when he was in a mood.

And he was in a hell of a mood right now.

“It’s another ghost,” Tristan shook his head. “You’re not really there!”

“I am here, Tristan.” Juke slowly began to walk closer. “I swear I am. Here, touch me. If I’m a ghost, you won’t be able to.”

He raised his hand, but Tristan didn’t move. The others were waiting with baited breath, ready to intervene if anything went wrong. But then Juke laid his hand on Tristan’s shoulder, causing the other to flinch.

“See?” Juke smiled. “See, it’s really us. We’re here to take you back. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come to you sooner. I tried so hard to find you. Remus and I both did.”

Tristan began to cry as he reached up to touch Juke’s hand on his shoulder. Doing so brought his wrists into Juke’s line of sight, and the other side gasped.

“Tristan... oh, my son, what have you done to yourself?” His eyes saw even older scars littering the flesh there.

Tristan jerked back, holding his arms close to his chest.

“You... you weren’t here!” He cried out. Lightning flashed again. “You all left me here all alone! I just... I just wanted it to stop hurting! I wanted it to stop, but it didn’t! No matter what I did, it wouldn’t stop!”

He moved back, shaking his head.

“Why did you abandon me?! Why did you let him take me away?” Tristan shouted. “Was that always the plan? You wanted to get rid of me because I was a burden? Because I had bad days?! Because I had no energy to function? Patton told me I wouldn’t be good for Thomas. He abandoned me too! All I wanted was to be accepted! All I wanted was for someone to tell me I was needed! And all of you just left me here!”

Logan could hear Vixen crying softly to himself. He slowly reached out and put an arm around the other’s shoulders, pulling him close for comfort. Even he, with all his talk of not having emotion, couldn’t help but feel sad for Tristan. He’d been told he wasn’t needed before, but he’d never felt abandoned...

Juke felt awful. Tristan had had bad days before, but he’d never resorted to hurting himself. Juke had always made sure it never got that bad. He always made sure Tristan wouldn’t need to do such a thing.

“I’m sorry,” Juke felt tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted this, Tristan. Patton took you from me. I should have protected you. I should have found you again. I tried so hard, but I failed you...”

Tristan looked away. 

“I can’t stop, Juke. I can’t stop it. I... I want to go home, but I can’t stop the rain. I can’t stop feeling hurt. I can’t just forget everything that happened. I... I don’t even think I can go home at this point...

Thomas watched the others talk, and the sides around him didn’t dare speak lest they miss something under the roar of the rain. 

But then Patton gasped and clutched his chest.

“Patton?” Thomas worriedly looked at the other as the umbrella fell to the ground. Patton looked like he was in pain.

And his eyes were glowing grey.

“It hurts,” Patton said. “It hurts so much...”


	18. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR IMPLIED SUICIDE ATTEMPT AND AFTERMATH

Remus looked up and saw another flash of lightning. Storm clouds were gathering overhead, and the rain was steadily coming down harder into a proper downpour.

“This isn’t good,” he said. “Vixie! We have to help Mama. Tristan’s become corrupted! Let’s go!”

“Right!” Vixen turned to Logan. “You stay here. If it gets worse it won’t be safe for you. Help Thomas and Patton.”

Before Logan could say anything, Vixen and Remus were running off to help Juke. He knelt as Patton collapsed to his knees, still clutching his chest in pain.

“Patton!” Thomas knelt with him. “Patton, what’s wrong? What hurts?”

“Judging by the position of his hand, it appears to be his heart,” Logan grabbed the fallen umbrella and held it over the three of them.

“Ah!” Patton looked to be on the verge of crying. “Oh, it hurts! It’s never hurt this much before!”

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked worriedly. “It’s hurt before? Why is it hurting? And why are your eyes grey?”

Patton whimpered, clenching his eyes shut. He knew why it was hurting. He knew it very well, but he didn’t want to say. He didn’t want to admit what had happened. What he had done.

“Patton,” Thomas’s tone was very firm. “Talk to us. Tell us what’s wrong. We can’t help you if we don’t know.”

Patton was silent as tears began to fall from his grey eyes. He sniffled and shook his head.

“Thomas...” he finally said. “I haven’t been very honest about something...”

>>>

“Tristan! I swear we tried to help you!” The wind had gotten so bad that Juke had to hold his hat on his head. “Remus brought you here because he was terrified that you would die if you stayed in your room!”

“Well maybe he should have let me die!” Tristan roared back. “That’s what you all wanted, right? To be rid of me! I was such a burden to you all!”

“Never!” Vixen shouted, gripping his coat tighter. “Tristan, we loved you! And we still love you! You’re part of our family, and even though you had some bad days, we never held that against you! We understood, Tristan. We understand now. Just... please come home with us. We’ve missed you all these years.”

“They’re right!” Remus cried out. “Please come home, Tristy!”

Tristan shook his head as the wind and rain picked up into a proper storm.

“It’s too late,” he said, tears falling down his face. “I’ve been here for too long. It hurts too much. I can’t go home. Not now. Things can never be the way they were before. I’ve changed too much. I’ve gotten so much worse. I just... I want to disappear! I want the pain to stop, and this is the only way! And then you’ll all be happy because I’ll be gone!” 

“No! Tristan!” Vixen struggled against the wind, but it was strong enough to nearly stop him in his tracks. The coat was hindering him. He braced himself... and then removed it, letting it blow away behind him. 

Juke had lost his hat, but he still tried to reach out to Tristan. Remus wasn’t doing much better, and the wind and rain were only getting stronger. IN the middle of it all, Tristan was hugging himself, hunched over, and face so wet one couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears.  
“I’m just so tired of being abandoned,” Tristan said. “So many people abandoned me. Even before I came to live with you, I was abandoned by someone important.”

“Tristan, I’ll never abandon you!” Juke struggled against the wind, arm flailing, trying to grab into Tristan. He could see the other side was beginning to fade away before his very eyes. 

“NO! NO, TRISTAN! TRISTAN!” He shrieked, doubling his efforts. But the windo pushed him back, sending him crashing and rolling on the ground.

“TRISTAN, NO! PLEASE!”

He was really going to do it. Tristan was going to make himself fade away. They’d never see him again. Juke struggled to get back up, he could see Remus pushed away, and Vixen followed. But Juke had to get up. He had to help his son. He had to save him!

“TRISTAN!” Juke squinted against the wind, reaching out again. He could barely see his son now-

And then there was silence.

The rain and wind stopped.

Nearly hyperventilating, Juke stood on shaky legs, crying and sobbing and steeling himself for the worst...

But Tristan was still there.

And Patton was hugging him. 

Tristan was gripping Patton’s shirt and sobbing into the shorter side’s shoulder. Patton was crying too, holding Tristan tightly. Juke wheezed a sigh of relief as his legs gave out again. 

Vixen stood up, looking upon the scene in confusion. What was Patton doing? Why was he hugging Tristan. And what were those strange glowing strings that were connecting them at the chest?

“I’m sorry for abandoning you,” Patton said softly to the other. “I had no idea it was this bad. I didn’t care to check on you, but I should have. I should have kept you close. I should have taken care of you. I’m so sorry, Tristan.”

Tristan’s pain wasn’t gone, but it was so much better with patton there. All this time, he felt like something was missing, and he’d known what it was. But he’d never had the courage to get it back.

“Patton,” Thomas looked as bad as the other sides. “What’s going on?” He walked over with Logan trailing behind him, the umbrella bent and broken. 

“I wasn’t being honest,” Patton said. “I was never honest about this, and I hurt Tristan because of it. But I’m not gonna let him be hurt anymore.”

He took a deep breath and turned to face the sides.

“Remus and Roman weren’t the only ones who were split. I... I was too. In the beginning, I only wanted Thomas to feel love and happiness and good emotions. I wanted it so bad that I split a part of myself off. All the sadness and despair... that became Tristan. I should have kept him with me, but I took him to Juke instead. But the split... it’s not perfect. I can still feel those sad emotions. I can still feel Tristan. I didn’t think it was hurting him this bad. I didn’t... I didn’t do what was right.”

He rubbed Tristan’s back and kissed his hair in a loving manner.

“I abandoned him because I was blind,” Patton continued. “And I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I’m still going to do all I can for him. He’s a part of me, and it’s high time I started treating him like it.”

Thomas was stunned. Everyone was stunned. No one had even known, had never had a reason to suspect. But it made sense in some twisted way. Patton was always so cheerful and optimistic that the other sides wondered if he could even get sad. But then there were those rare times when Patton was sad or feeling down. Obviously he could still feel those negative emotions...

“Tristy came from Patton?” Remus scratched his rat soaked hair. “Talk about a twist...”

“This whole thing is weird,” Vixen shook his head and walked forward. “But it changes nothing. We’re still going to take Tristan home with us.” He stopped and rubbed Tristan’s back as well. “We still love you, little bro.”

Juke finally got to his feet and grabbed Tristan in a tight hug, sobbing heavily.

“My little April shower,” he croaked. “I was so scared. I thought you were going to fade away and then I’d never see you again. Please... don’t ever do that again. We love you so much. We’d be devastated if you faded away. I love you, please... please don’t do that again...” he kept sobbing and muttering ‘please’ over and over again, clinging to the other.

“I’m glad everything worked out,” Logan said, drying Vixen’s coat and placing it around his shoulders. “But we still have one left.”

“Devlin,” Tristan sniffled. “I haven’t seen him, but I don’t think he’s too far away.”

He glanced into the distance where a volcano suddenly began to erupt.


	19. It's Not Bad to be Sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More filler, I know. I just wanted Thomas to have a talk with Tristan. Next chapter will have more plot.

“So... you’re my sorrow?”

They had decided on one final break before going after Devlin. Tristan had walked off from the group, assuring the others that he would be fine, he just needed a a few minutes to himself. Juke knew that Tristan often needed chances to calm down, so he let the other go with the stipulation that if he still stay nearby.

Thomas had followed him, wanting to speak to the side himself.

Tristan looked up from where he was sitting and slowly nodded.

“Yeah... I... I’m sorry for how I am,” he said softly. 

“You mean for all the times I was sad?” Thomas asked, sitting down across from him. Tristan nodded his head, staring at his hands in his lap. The bandages on his wrists stood out, and Thomas couldn’t help but look at them.

Thomas had dealt with depression before. He’d seen self harm scars and he’d heard stories from people who self harmed, but this... this was something different. Tristan was a part of him. His sorrow. His depression. Tristan’s scars were his own.

Hidden from everyone but him...

“Yeah,” Tristan finally said. “I’m sorry. I try to help, but... this is all I can do for you. Make you sad. Make you cry. Some days I don’t even want to get out of bed. They used to make me get out of bed on those days...”

“You mean Juke and Vixen?” Thomas smiled. “They really do seem to love you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Juke like this with somebody before. I had no idea he was such a mama bear.”

Tristan gave a small smile, still fiddling with the holes in his jeans.

“They would put me on the living room couch,” he said. “Juke made sure I ate something, Vixen would bring me water, Remus was always showing me his drawings to cheer me up, and Virgil... Virgil gave good hugs. I think... I think he knew what I was going through because of his own job.”

Thomas smiled wider at Tristan’s words. It was so strange and yet so wholsome to hear about them all acting like a family. They were all pieces of him, and yet they all acted independently. They formed families and friendships and had their own quirks. It was amazing, to be honest.

And now Thomas could explore different parts of himself. Maybe understand them better.

“I don’t mind that you make me sad,” he said. “Sometimes it feels good to be sad.”

Tristan finally looked up at that, surprise clearly written on his face. His hands fell still in his lap, fingers leaving the holes alone.

“What? What did you say?” He sounded as if he couldn’t believe that being sad was a good thing. Obviously he had his own doubts about his use, which seemed to be common among these sides.

“It’s not bad to be sad,” said Thomas. “Being sad is normal. It’s part of being human, and being sad sometimes is healthy. And it’s good for you. Having a nice cry can make things feel better. You just... you can’t let the sorrow consume you. You can’t let it take over your life. Maybe some days it did feel like that, but I had people to help me through it. And now you do too. I mean, you did before, but now you have your family and me too. I’m not going to just let you stay in a dark room. I’ll be pulling you out too. Because you deserve to be heard and acknowledged. Your job may be hard, but... I do appreciate what you do.”

Tristan blinked a few times. He looked over his left shoulder, looked over his other shoulder, and then even looked over Thomas’s shoulders. Thomas gave him a confused look the whole time he did so.

“You’re... you’re really telling the truth,” Tristan said slowly. “You’re telling the truth! You really do like me!”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Thomas said. “I’m sorry if you ever thought I wouldn’t like you. If I had known about you, I would have spoken to you ages ago. I just hope I can make up for lost time.”

Tristan sniffled... and then he started to cry. He wiped at his face and sobbed softly. Thomas let him cry, he knew these weren’t sad tears. And like he’d said, sometimes crying made things feel better.

“Could I have a hug, please?” Tristan spread his arms. “I just... I really need one right now.”

“Come here,” Thomas pulled the other side into a hug and rubbed his back. Tristan continued to cry into his shoulder, and Thomas let him.

He felt more whole now. It was as if a vital part of himself had been found.


	20. Smoke and Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Also, fun fact: Devlin's weapon was originally going to be a chainsaw.

For Thomas, it really felt like a final boss battle. The arena was inside an active volcano, and his party was made up of... well, it was a motley crew. He’d thought Tristan was scary, well Devlin was much worse.

The path they were on led to a flat area that had large cracks that spewed heat and smoke, and Devlin was just sitting there. Thomas had to wonder what these sides had been doing in all this time in isolation, which led to him wondering just how their mental health had fared.

Probably not well.

“Devlin!” Juke called.

The other side looked over at them, shock clearly written on his face. He slowly stood up and then began to walk over.

Devlin was the tallest of Thomas’s Sides. A full head taller than Vixen in his boots, and an inch or two taller than Logan. He wore an orange leather jacket with black jeans and a grey shirt.

He slowed to a stop when he spotted someone in the party.

“What are_ you _doing here?” He growled, glaring at Patton.

Patton yelped as Juke shoved him aside and took a step forward.

“Forget about him,” Juke said. “Devlin, you can go home now. Thomas is here to take you back. Come on, let’s leave. Your brothers want to leave. Please.”

But Devlin did not look away from Patton. His slowly began to glow orange.

“I can’t leave yet,” he said. “I made a vow. You remember, Vixen? Tristan? I said I’d kill this spineless bastard.” He pointed at Patton. “I’d kill him for the pain he caused, and I’m not about to go back on my word. I’ll leave... but not before I bury his ass here.”

The group flinched as another explosion of smoke rose from the cracks in the ground. Patton looked utterly terrified, and Thomas couldn’t blame him. Devlin was scary. Was he sure he really wanted this Side back?

“Devlin, I don’t care about any vow you might have made,” said Juke. “I just want my boys home with me. You included. Please, just come home with us. Patton will pay for his crimes when we get back-”

“Patton will pay now,” Devlin growled as he walked closer. “Stupid little shit, trying to say we’re bad for Thomas. Why!? Because you think we’re not as pure and good as your little group? Because it’s bad to be angry or sad or to want sex?”

Logan had pushed Patton behind him, and to his surprise Remus stood next to him, already summoning his morningstar and watching his brother carefully.

“You took our lives from us!” Devlin roared, eyes now glowing fiercely. “We’ve been trapped here for years! All alone! While your group partied in your little palace and never once had to worry like we did. You never had to worry about dying. You never had to see your family die right in front of you with nothing you could do to save them! And you think he should walk out of here alive? **I don’t think so!”**

With his final roar, Devlin summoned a large and mean looking axe. Patton cried out in fear, and Vixen was already herding some of the group away.

“Thomas, you stay here with Patton and Tristan. Things are about to get ugly, and we don’t want you getting hurt,” Vixen shuffled them behind some nearby boulders and summoned his whip once again.

“I’m sorry,” Patton began to cry. “I’m sorry for what I did. I should have never locked you away. This is all my fault. I’m so-”

“Thomas, try to calm him down,” Vixen interrupted. “We’ll try to get Devlin calmed down too. Tristan...” the grey side looked up, but Vixen just kissed his forehead and smiled. “Tristan, you stay here with Thomas, ok? Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Vixie!” They heard Remus call.

Vixen turned and ran back into the fray. Thomas peered around the boulder to watch him run off before looking back at Patton.

Juke was already on Devlin’s back and trying to restrain him with his extra arms, but Devlin pulled him off and tossed him aside.

“How do we want to do this, Remus?” Vixen asked as Devlin picked his axe back up.

“I have no clue,” Remus looked worried. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Me neither,” Vixen sighed. This was all so messed up. “Let’s try to at least restrain him. I might be able to tie him up-”

They were interrupted by another explosion. This one formed new cracks in the ground and caused everyone to fall. Thomas had been knocked over as well, and Patton worriedly went to help him up.

“He has to pay for what he did!” Devlin roared, still standing. “He has to pay for his crimes against us! And I’m sure I’m not the only one who agrees!”

He pointed at Thomas.

Patton helped Thomas up again, but gasped when he saw that Thomas’s eyes were glowing orange. He tried to back away, but Thomas grabbed him in a bruising grip.

“Patton,” he growled. “You made me give up that call back. You made me go to that wedding. I hated that wedding! I wanted to go to the call back! Why do you always make me give up the things that make me happy!?”

“K-Kiddo, I-” Patton yelped as he tried to plead his case. He’d never seen Thomas so angry at him. Not at him, not his inner dad. Was this Devlin’s influence?

“Don’t call me Kiddo!” Thomas roared. “All my life you’ve been making choices for me, saying it was for my own good! Well, it wasn’t! I gave up so many things in the name of your ‘goodness’! I gave up hopes and dreams in the name of being ‘right’! And for what? For you to lock away my other sides and then LIE TO ME!”

“Thomas, I just...” Patton whithered under Thomas’s glare, trying to get away from his creator, but Thomas held firm. Vixen and Remus watched, glancing at each other and then back at Thomas.

“Oh shit,” Remus said. “We’re all fucked.”


	21. Fire can Spread Quickly

It was a rage the likes of which Thomas had never felt before. It was like a fire was burning through his veins, and he was blind to everything but an intense desire to destroy the very thing that was causing that rage.

He was deaf to Patton’s pleas, holding on tightly to the other’s arm.

_Look at what he’s done! All the suffering he’s caused. All the things he made you do. Destroy him! Free yourself!_

The voice rang in Thomas’s head, and he saw a glimpse of an orange eyed face that was grinning with jagged teeth. Yes, it made sense. He had to destroy Patton. Patton was the cause of everything. Patton had lied to him. Patton had hurt him. Patton had taken so many things from him...

Thomas shoved Patton against a nearby boulder and growled. The fatherly side shook in terror, eyes wide behind his glasses. Tristan stood nearby, glancing between Thomas and Devlin, who was still fighting Juke.

Who was he supposed to help?

Remus made the decision to help his mother while Vixen turned his attention to Thomas. He rushed towards his creator, intending to help.

_He hurt you too, didn’t he?_

Vixen gasped and suddenly stopped, hearing a familiar voice echo through his brain. Logan looked over at him, confusion in his eyes.

_Patton took your family away. Took your job away. Left you cold and alone for years. How long did you claw at your door before you realized it wasn’t going to open? How long did you scream for help? How many lonely nights left you shivering and half mad with need?_

“Brother...” Vixen’s voice was so soft, so helpless. “This will not solve anyth-”

He stiffened, eyes closing.

_He deserves to be punished! He deserves to die! Do it for our brothers. For Pan! For Morey! Let your anger guide you! All that time you were alone and cursing Patton’s name! All those times you considered jumping from the cliffs because it was too much! Let those times give you strength!_

“Vixen?” Logan was shaking the other side’s shoulders. “Vixen, are you ok? Say something!”

Vixen’s eyes opened... and they were bright orange.

Logan gasped and stepped back, watching Vixen slowly summon his whip.

“I have no quarrel with you,” he said, his tone a deep growl. “Stay out of my way and let me get my revenge!”

Logan glanced at Devlin, knowing this was his influence. Devlin had become corrupted like Tristan had. He’d become Wrath. He was turning allies into enemies. But Logan couldn’t let anything bad happen to the others. He’d have to fight.

He moved to stand between Vixen and Thomas. Thomas may have been threatening Patton, but he was unarmed. The bigger threat was Vixen.

“Vixen, this isn’t you!” Logan stated. “This is Devlin’s influence. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement-”

“I told you not to talk about me like that!” Vixen growled. “How do you know this isn’t what I want? After what was done to me it’s the least I deserve. Get out of my way!”

Juke could hear Vixen shouting at Logan from where he was still trying to restrain Devlin. Devlin had torn off three of his arms, and the were slow to grow back. Blood was splattered on the ground where his lifeless limbs lay still. But he didn’t give up.

It was all falling apart. All he’d wanted was to save his family. And now they were all locked in battle for their very lives. if Devlin pushed Thomas too far, it could cause irreversible damage to the creator’s mind. And that would not be good for any of them.

Perhaps Juke had been wrong to ask Thomas to come. Perhaps he should have left them-

“Mama!”

Juke blinked, snapping himself from his thoughts. Remus was struggling, using his morningstar to block Devlin’s ax. Even with one hand restrained, Devlin was a deadly fighter.

Devlin’s eyes bored into Remus’s, exerting influence on him too.

_Why fight me, brother? Why defend that bastard? Help me destroy him so that we can take our place among the others. They hurt you too! Patton was the one who split you, and then he tossed you aside. Your own twin did too! We were the only ones who ever accepted you-_

Remus screeched loudly, and Devlin stumbled back in pain. His ax shattered in his grasp, and Juke managed to get the other arm restrained as well. Remus panted to himself, watching Devlin thrash and roar.

“You forget, dear brother...” Remus said softly. “I cannot be influenced by you. Thoughts are _my_ weapons to use...”

Remus glanced over to see Vixen fighting Logan, and he turned to help, but then Juke called his name, and Remus’s attention was torn.

Who was he supposed to help?

Well, the nerd could deal with Vixen. Right now, he needed to help Mama.

Vixen swung his whip again, but Logan was quick to dodge. For a nerd, he had some impressive reflexes. Vixen growled and tried again, this time his whip wrapped around something and was nearly yanked from his grasp.

Logan had summoned a pointer stick, trying to disarm the other.

Vixen growled again, yanking back on his whip, trying to dislodge it, but Logan held firm.

“This will not solve anything!” Logan said, trying to make Vixen see reason. “This will only make things worse! You must regain your senses! Don’t listen to Devlin-”

“Shut up!” Vixen roared. “You’re annoying! Always speaking as if you know what’s best, as if you know what I feel and what I should do! You have no idea what he did to us! You have no idea how I feel!”

The pointer stick shattered into splinters as Vixen finally pulled hard enough. Logan was sent stumbling forward, catching himself on his hands and knees, but losing his glasses. He looked up as Vixen towered over him, hands holding his whip in a white knuckle grip.

“I don’t want to listen to you,” Vixen said. “I want my revenge. I want Patton dead. I want for you all to feel the same pain we’ve had to feel our whole lives. And if you want to stop me, then I’ll destroy you too!”

He raised his whip, and Logan braced himself-

Vixen cried out.

Logan opened his eyes to see Tristan standing behind Vixen with his hands over Vixen’s head. The pink side dropped his whip and began to cry. His eyes changed from orange to grey, and he fell to his knees when Tristan finally let go of him.

Vixen collapsed onto his side, curling up into a ball as he continued to sob heavily. Tristan made a distressed noise and put his hands up.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just... I know he doesn’t really want to hurt you! I know it’s Devlin’s fault. I didn’t know what else to do!” Tristan sniffled, covering his mouth with his hands.

Logan stood up and pat Tristan’s shoulder.

“Could you do the same thing to Thomas?” He asked. Tristan shook his head.

“I’m not strong enough for Thomas,” he said. “Vixen worked because he was really sad and hurt after what had happened, so I could harness that. But Thomas is different. We’ll have to do something else.”

Logan nodded, turning to look at Thomas. He suddenly had an idea.

“Tristan... did Devlin ever do any exercises to deal with his anger?”


	22. The Fire is Extinguished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You would not BELIEVE how many times I rewrote this chapter.

Remus wasn’t going to be able to keep this up forever. He liked to think of himself as powerful, but Devlin was much more powerful than he was. And with Devlin corrupted into Wrath, it would take a miracle to win this fight.

It was risky. Remus was the only one who could get them out again. If he died, the others would have to wait a while for him to come back. And they’d all be stuck until he did come back.

Remus shoved those thoughts aside as he continued to struggle with Devlin. Devlin didn’t stop trying to get into his head, but it was impossible to get into Remus’s head. Remus’s constant battle with intrusive thoughts made Devlin’s words fade into the background. And anyway, since Remus was the one who caused Thomas’s intrusive thoughts, he knew how to use thoughts to his advantage, and so Devlin was powerless to turn him.

But Devlin wasn’t powerless to rip another of Juke’s arms off. 

Juke was down to only two left, and the blood loss was making him dizzy. He’d dealt with injuries like this from the beasts in Remus’s side of the imagination, so he didn’t let it stop him. But he was being worn down quickly, and he knew they needed to end this fight quickly lest Devlin win and corrupt Thomas completely.

As of now, there was still hope for their creator.

Devlin growled as he saw Vixen fall. Tristan had betrayed them! He’d stopped Vixen from getting to Patton. Him and that useless teacher. Why was everyone against him? Couldn’t they all see that Patton was the cause of all this? If they could only get rid of him...

Juke lunged again, but Devlin tossed him aside. Remus took that moment to land another hit with his morningstar. Devlin tried to summon another axe, but Remus screeched at him again, breaking his concentration.

Logan saw what happened, and then noticed that Thomas’s eyes flickered. If Remus distracted Devlin enough, they could have Thomas use anger exercises to weaken him. It was a risky plan, but it was the only one they had.

“Thomas!” Logan rushed over as Thomas’s eyes flickered back to brown. “Thomas, listen to me. It’s imperative that you do exactly as I say. When I tell you to, I want you to scream as hard as you can.”

“Huh?” Thomas looked disoriented. “What are you talking about-” But then his eyes changed back to orange.

“Remus! Distract him again!” Logan called to the other side. Remus didn’t need telling twice. He inhaled deeply and let out another screech to break Devlin’s focus.

“Thomas, scream!” Logan commanded as Thomas’s eyes changed again. Thomas did so, screaming at the top of his lungs, and... the anger inside lessened slightly.

“Again!” Logan said. Thomas screamed again, and the anger within him decreased again. Logan held out hope that this would work. It was a logical plan, but just barely. If anything went wrong, then they’d be right back on the defense.

Remus screeched again, distracting Devlin. He looked over at Thomas, seeing him give his own scream. Remus had no idea what was going on, but he trusted Logan. He would know what to do-

Remus choked as Devlin suddenly grabbed him around the neck. He squeezed tightly, negating Remus’s ability to screech. Logan saw it too, and he gasped as his plan fell apart.

“I know what you’re doing,” Devlin growled. “I have to admit, that was pretty smart. But you really should have watched me more carefully.”

He squeezed tighter, and Remus wheezed, barely getting any air into his lungs. Curse Thomas for giving them the need to breathe! And there was no water for him to grow gills for...

Devlin lifted Remus into the air, and the Duke’s legs scrambled in the air below him. Devlin had yanked away his morningstar, and he couldn’t summon another one, dizzy with lack of air. He was at Devlin’s mercy.

“You’ve all turned against me,” Devlin snarled. “I’m not the bad guy here. I wasn’t the one who broke up our family. I wasn’t the one who banished us in the first place. I wasn’t the one who killed our brothers!”

Remus noticed the necklace that gleamed around Devlin’s neck. It was the one that Pan had worn in his life. Of all the sides, Devlin had been the closest to Pan, always protecting him, always protecting all of them. Remus knew Devlin was so angry because he blamed himself for their deaths. He was supposed to be their gaurdian, their protector, and he couldn’t save them.

“Dev...” Remus wheezed. “It won’t bring them back. It won’t solve anything-”

“Maybe not,” Devlin interrupted. “But it’ll make me feel a hell of a lot better. And when that fucker is dead... there will be no one to worry about. We won’t have to stay in the darkness. We won’t have to worry about dying. We’ll be free! I’m getting my revenge, one way or another. Now stay the fuck out of my way!” 

He threw Remus aside and watched him fall over the edge of their platform, into the steaming magma below. 

“REMUS!” Juke cried out. He struggled to his feet. He had to end this now. He couldn’t let it go any further. He had to... he had to...

Devlin turned his attention back to Patton. Forget Thomas, he’d do this himself. Thomas didn’t know shit about his sides. He’d have no idea how to stop him. And even if he tried, Devlin could always influence him again.

“Move out of my way if you don’t want to get hurt,” Devlin growled. “I only want Patton. None of you others have to suffer for him anymore! Just move aside!”

Logan stood like a pillar of stone, straight backed and unafraid. Ok, maybe he was a little afraid. Tristan looked torn, but he walked over to stand next to Logan, hunched over and looking far less confident. Thomas walked forward as well, joining their shield. He wasn’t going to let Devlin have Patton.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Devlin yelled. “Are you really willing to sacrifice yourselves for that piece of shit?!”

He moved forward, eyes still blazing orange with rage-

But then Juke appeared before him, and before anyone could say or do anything, he stabbed Devlin in the chest with one of the shards of his axe. 

Immeditately, the volcano calmed. The rolling magma cooled and solidified into rock. Devlin looked shocked at Juke, who was using his two remaining hands to push the shard in even further. Tears rolled down his face as he did so.

Devlin collapsed to his knees and then fell backward onto his back. As he did, his leather jacket vanished, and his clothes shifted into an orange shirt and dark cargo pants.

Wrath had finally been defeated...


	23. We Can Go Home Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you change something in your previous chapter so that you can ramp up the angst in this one... I wanted a nice chapter for them all to talk before Devlin wakes up. He will wake up in the next chapter, I promise.

“Remus!”

Now that Devlin was no longer a threat, Logan rushed over to where he had seen Remus fall. He found the Duke clinging to a small ledge, looking up at Logan with relief.

“A little help, nerd?” Remus reached up and Logan pulled him to safety. Remus had bruises on his neck from Devlin’s grasp and a black eye from the battle as well. His tunic was torn in some places, but other than that, he was ok.

Remus smiled, but it faded quickly as he looked around.

“What happened? Mama?”

He ran over to Juke, taking in the sight of Devlin’s bleeding form. Juke was staring at his blood soaked hands in horror. He tore his gloves from his shaking hands, but the blood had seeped through, staining them red. With erratic breathing, Juke scrubbed his hands, trying to clean off the blood. His claws began to scratch his scales, and Remus finally took his hands in his own.

“Mama, stop! It’s ok. You’re ok...” Remus tried to reassure Juke.

Juke just silently looked at Devlin, and his breathing got even worse as fresh tears began to spill. Remus pulled Juke into a hug, comforting him and whispering soothing words.

“Is... is he...?” Thomas couldn’t finish his sentence.

“No,” Tristan said softly. “Or he would have faded by now. Sometimes if we get hurt like this we just pass out for a bit and then wake up healed.”

Thomas remembered Roman getting hit with a morningstar and Logan having a shuriken sticking out of his forehead. Ah, so that made sense...

“I’m sorry,” Juke sobbed into Remus’s shoulder. “It was the only way. He was too far gone. It was the only way to calm him down...”

“He looks different,” Logan examined Devlin. “My guess is the corruption has passed. The shock to his system via this shard must have done it.”

Juke sobbed even harder at Logan’s words.

Patton slowly stumbled his way over. He was shaking as well, eyes wide and unfocused. 

“I... I’d like to go back now,” he said. “Please. I... this is... it’s all...”

He wheezed and collapsed to his knees, hugging himself in terror. Thomas knelt down and pulled him into a hug. Patton must have been traumatized by it all, and Thomas couldn’t blame him. 

“Tristan,” Logan glanced over at the final side who was still sobbing on the ground. “Perhaps we should release Vixen from your influence.”

“He’s gonna be really mad at me,” Tristan sighed, but walked over to Vixen anyway.

“Well, obviously we all underestimated the... level of danger we would be facing. As such, our mental health has suffered in various ways,” Logan looked around again. “We are in no shape to return. We should stay and recover now that we are not...” he paused. “Let’s just stay and recover.”

Vixen joined them not long after, eyes puffy and red, make up once again smeared, and coat half hanging from his shoulders. Logan pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully helped wipe away Vixen’s smeared eyeliner.

“Be honest...” Vixen said softly. “... am I having another nightmare? Is this a dream?”

“No,” Logan straightened Vixen’s coat, drawing it closer to the other. After a moment, he cupped Vixen’s cheek with his hand. Vixen leaned into the touch and sighed. Logan’s previous diagnosis came to mind, and he was all but convinced it had been correct. 

“What happens now?” Vixen asked, sounding lost. Logan wondered how powerful Tristan’s influence could be. It seemed to be capable of many things.

“Now we go home,” Logan said. “As soon as Devlin awakes.”

Vixen’s hands shot up, grabbing Logan’s arm in a tight grip. Logan didn’t move it, letting his hand stay at Vixen’s face. Vixen sniffled, eyes already welling up with tears again. 

“Please don’t leave us,” he said. “I can’t... I can’t be alone anymore. I need my brothers. I need my family. We all do. Tristan needs us or he’ll go right back to hurting himself. Devlin will become corrupted again. Look, I’ll... I’ll stay behind if you promise to take the others...”

Logan blinked in surprise. Did Vixen think Thomas was going to leave them behind? Was he worried about Thomas’s reaction to Devlin? Was he worried that Thomas had changed his mind because of what had happened?

“We came here to rescue you,” said Logan. “And we will. Thomas is not going to leave anyone behind. It’s true... our meetings were less than favorable, but it’s understandable. You all have undergone severe trauma and injustice. It’s understandable that you don’t like Patton. It’s understandable that some of you became corrupted. We will not fault you for that. It only shows that for many years... we did things wrong. But we are going to do what we can to fix things.”

Vixen trembled as Logan spoke. He knew Logan wouldn’t lie like this. While they hadn’t gotten along with the other light sides, Logan had always been a man of his word. And he had been the loudest voice that defended them. Vixen knew he could trust what Logan was saying. They were really going home.

“Would you like a hug-”

Logan barely got his words out before Vixen took him up on his offer. He pet Vixen’s hair, letting the other hold him as tightly as he could. He may not be one for feelings and emotions, but... well, Vixen looked like he needed some comfort.

Remus was checking Juke over for injuries, grimacing at his missing limbs.

“Oh,” he said. “Your lovely arms. He tore them off...”

“They’ll grow back,” Juke sniffled. “They always do. I’ll be ok.”

“Will you?” Remus asked. It was perhaps the most seriout tone he’d ever used, and Juke caught the unsaid meaning.

“I will,” Juke managed a small smile. “I have all my children again.”

And then Thomas was trying to help Patton out.

“Thomas, I’m not so sure about this,” Patton said as he straightened his glasses. “I mean, look at what he can do.”

“This is different,” said Thomas. “He’s been here all alone for years. He had no one to help him with his anger and no way to express it in a healthy way. And that’s what Logan is always talking about, right? Expressing your emotions in a healthy way. It won’t be like this when we bring them back. And I won’t let him hurt you, Patton.”

“Thomas, you don’t understand,” Patton sounded scared. “You were... so angry and it was like you were a completely different person. I was terrified! I thought I had lost you.”

“Patton, I need you to trust me. All my life I’ve listened to you. I’ve done what you told me,” said Thomas. “But now I need you to listen to me. It won’t be like this all the time. This is different. They need our help, and I’m not going to leave them all alone. Dr. Picani can help them too. It’s the right thing to do, Patton.”

Patton sighed, still unsure. He’d worked so hard to keep the peace between the sides and make sure that Thomas led a good life. But Thomas and Juke had shown him that his actions had done more hurt than good. Patton had been wrong, and many had suffered for it.

Thomas was right. 

“I... I’m sorry, kiddo,” Patton finally said. “I... I just worry about you.”

“And I’ll always love you for it,” Thomas smiled. “Now how about you go talk to Tristan? I think you two have spent too much time apart?”

Patton nodded, glancing over at the other who was sitting off to the side. He walked over and sat next to the grey side. Tristan looked at him shyly, fiddling with his oversized sweater.

“Are you ok?” Patton asked. Tristan nodded. 

“I’m playing a game,” he said. “I look around and find all the things that make me happy. I play it when I’m sad.”

“Sounds like a fun game,” Patton smiled. “Why are you sad?”

“I hurt Vixie,” Tristan whimpered. “I don’t like hurting my family.”

Patton couldn’t really argue. He wasn’t sure what had happened between the two, having been too preoccupied with Thomas.

“What have you found so far?” He asked instead.

“Vixen, Remus, Juke,” Tristan listed a few other things and Patton got an idea.

“You missed something,” he said. “When Devlin wakes up... we’re going to take you all home. You don’t have to stay here anymore.”

Tristan’s eyes slowly lit up as he realized Patton was right. He could go home with his family. He could see Virgil again. He could go back to his favorite spot on the couch and they could have movie nights again and there would be cuddles.

“Oh,” Tristan’s smile was the purest Patton had ever seen. “Oh, that’s a big happiness...”


	24. The Reunion You've Been Waiting For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has it really been so long since the last chapter? We're so close to the end, guys. I promise I'll try to update sooner.

This was the worst headache that Devlin had ever had.

Actually, everything hurt. Every muscle was sore, but the worst pain was in his chest. With a groan of pain, he slowly opened his eyes and put a hand over his chest. It came away wet with blood.

“What the fuck?” Devlin opened his eyes all the way and the world slowly came into focus. The first thing he noticed was the blood on his hand. The second thing was that he was not alone. When had anyone else shown up?

And then it all came back to him, making his head hurt even more.

“Devlin!”

Devlin yelped when someone nearly tackled him in a hug. He only needed to see the grey sweater to know who it was.

“Tristan?” His hands shook as he returned the hug, burying his face in Tristan’s shoulder. “Tristan! Oh my god, are you ok? How are you here?”

“I’m ok,” Tristan sniffled, crying softly. “I’m ok. Are you ok? I’m so sorry! We had to hurt you. We didn’t want to, I promise. Juke had no other choice...”

Devlin didn’t want to look up. He wanted to keep his face hidden and keep holding his little brother and pretend that they were alone. He couldn’t bare to face the others after what had happened. After what he had done.

But he knew he had no choice...

He raised his tear filled eyes and looked up to see the others watching him carefully. Patton looked terrified and backed away, Thomas putting a steadying hand on his shoulder. Juke and Remus were nearby, and they both looked overjoiyed at having Devlin back.

“Big brother!” Remus launched himself to join Tristan in the hug. Juke was a bit calmer, but he hugged just as tightly. Devlin’s sobbing began anew when he saw the stumps of Juke’s extra arms. He had done that. He had attacked and hurt his family. His rage had gotten so bad that it had blinded him, and they had suffered for it.

“Devlin,” Vixen knelt behind him and began running his fingers through Devlin’s hair. It was an old gesture that had a calming effect on him, even though it wasn’t working so much now. Still, Vixen kept at it since there wasn’t any room left for a hug.

Thomas watched them all with a smile. They all cared about each other so much. They knew it wasn’t Devlin’s fault, and even now they were concerned for his well being. Thomas knew he was doing the right thing by bringing them back. They all just needed love and support. Thomas had neglected them for far too long. He would never let something like this happen again.

“It’s not your fault,” Juke was quick to assure Devlin. “We know what happened. You became corrupted and you were not in your right mind. We came here to bring you home. Thomas is going to let us all come home-”

“Thomas?!” Devlin looked up, remembering that Thomas was there too. He groaned and smacked his forehead into Remus’s shoulder. “Ugh! And I was hoping to have a good first meeting. This is awful!”

Thomas laughed despite himself, eager to break the tension. He smiled at the other and shook his head.

“Could be worse. When Juke introduced himself, he was disguised as Patton,” he chuckled. 

“A disguise?” Devlin tilted his head. “Sounds like him. Hey guys, I love you, but you’re all heavy and my chest really hurts. Can I get some space, please?”

The others got off of him and helped him stand up. Obviously corruption had not changed him too much as he was still very tall, towering over some of them. Remus had conjured some bandages and began to help Devlin wrap his wounds. He’d heal up just fine in the Mind Palace.

“I’m so sorry,” Juke was still crying as remus helped Devlin. “You were so far gone and I didn’t know what else to do. You were hurting us all, and you even began to corrupt Thomas-”

“Juke, it’s fine,” Devlin gave a dismissive wave. “You know how much I love you guys and I was always worried something like this would happen. I’m just happy you managed to take me down before I killed someone.”

“You almost killed me,” Remus grinned. “You threw me off that cliff.”

“Yeah, but you have tentacles,” said Devlin. “You know damn well you would have just clung to the wall and climbed back up.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Remus chuckled as he secured the bandages.

Logan may not be the expert in emotions, but he could tell that they were all using humor to defuse the tension. He imagined they were going to have a much better reuinion when they got back. For now, this wasn’t the best place to do it.

“May as well do this the right way,” Devlin walked over to Thomas and held his hand out. “Name’s Devlin. I’m your anger. As you saw... I can get a bit hotheaded at times. But I would never hurt my family like that. I love them all to hell and back.”

“He does!” Tristan called out. “He really does!”

Thomas shook Devlin’s hand, feeling the power in his grip.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. This whole thing is kind of messed up. I’m still learning about all the stuff that went down and all the other sides I didn’t know existed,” he said. “I’m sorry that it came to this. If I had known, I would never have let this happen.”

“Can we go now?” Remus said. “This sappy bullshit is getting too much for me. I’m about to start vomiting pixie dust and rainbows.”

“Yeah, I’d like to go home too,” Patton said, still standing a good distance from Devlin. 

“I think it would be beneficial to leave,” Logan said. “This environment isn’t conducive to anyone’s health right now.”

“Remus, can you take us home?” Thomas walked over to the group. “And I mean in one piece.”

“Of course I can, Dr. Seuss!” Remus grinned. “Everyone crowd in. Don’t be shy. And be careful of any wandering hands. Come on, Patton! You too! Embrace the dark side!”

Patton looked nervous, but he carefully moved in with the others, choosing to stand between Thomas and Logan.

“Ok!” Remus conjured his morningstar and seemed to be gearing up for something. “Everyone hold tight, I’ve never done this with so many people before. Ready, and....”

He slammed his morningstar down into the ground, and it began to crack and collapse. The group plummeted into the dark void below, and everything went silent.

“They’ve been gone for so long!” Virgil had not stopped pacing the whole time. “What if something’s happened? What if they’re all dead, or they’re trapped and can’t get back?”

“Virgil, I’m so done with this attitude that I can’t even think up a good nickname for you,” Roman was sprawled on the throne of pillows he’d made for the couch. “I’m sure they’re all fine. I know my brother, and he said he could get them back out when they needed to come back.”

“You barely know your brother at all,” Virgil snapped. “Or do you not remember the session we had with Picani?”

Roman frowned at Virgil’s words, but he decided to ignore them.

“The point is, they’re in a dangerous situation and we’re just sitting here and not doing anything-”

Virgil’s words were cut short when there was suddenly a cacophony of the sounds of people rising up and then falling. He looked over with wide eyes and saw the group in various stages of sitting up and rubbing the spots they’d fallen on.

It was Vixen who first noticed Virgil. 

“V-Virgil?” He stood up. “Holy shit, is that you?!”

“Vixen...” Virgil couldn’t believe it.

“Virgil!” Vixen rushed over and pulled the other into a hug. “Oh my god! Virgil, you’ve gotten so tall and you’ve grown up and you changed your outfit! I’m so happy to see you again! My little baby brother...”

“Virgil!” Devlin and Tristan stumbled over and hugged him too. Tristan was crying again, pressing his face into the hood of Virgil’s hoodie. 

“Virgie... it’s you! I missed you so much!”

“I’m so glad you’re ok,” Devlin breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried you would have been rejected like the others.”

Virgil was silent as they all cried and spoke and hugged him tighter and ruffled his hair and gripped his hoodie and-

They were back.

They were really back.

His family... his brothers...

Virgil couldn’t stop the sudden tears and whimpers that came from him. He had missed them all so much, even after he’d left Juke and Remus. But oh, what would they think when they found out he’d abandoned his family? How could he do that?

“I can feel your emotions,” Devlin said.

“Me too,” Tristan chimed in.

“Whatever happened while we were gone, we’ll deal with it later,” said Vixen. “For now, we’re not letting go for at least an hour. I still can’t believe how much you’ve grown. You shot up like a damn weed!”

Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

Thomas smiled at the display as Patton and Logan went over to speak to Roman. 

Things were tense and, and they all had their problems to work through.

But he had a good feeling that everything would be ok in the end...


	25. Start the Healing Process

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some filler for now. The next chapter is probably going to be the last chapter...

They slept in the living room that night.

Devlin, Tristan, Juke, Vixen, Virgil, and Remus.

They had built a massive fort out of blankets and pillows and Juke slept in the middle of them all. He’d summoned his extra arms and they all gripped the various shirts or pant legs of the others, terrified that he’d wake up and they would be gone again.

Vixen was cuddled against Juke, slotting against him perfectly just like old times. Tristan and Virgil were cuddled in Devlin’s arms, sleeping peacefully. They had always felt safe in his arms. Remus took up Juke’s other side, holding his Mama’s extra hand with his own, happy to see they’d all grown back without any problem.

But the room wasn’t dark or even dim, they had left the lamps on for a fair bit of light. After sleeping in the dark or the dim of the Subconscious, they couldn’t stand to anymore.

This was how Patton found them when he’d come down for a glass of water. He stared at them from the stairs, feeling conflicting emotions. This was a family, but these people had terrified him and had wanted to hurt or kill him. He could understand why, he really could. But he knew their reactions weren’t entirely warranted. He hadn’t done this out of malice, it had been for Thomas’s own good. Thomas had grown up to be a good person...

But Patton still felt guilty. Underneath the hostility, they’d acted like any other family. Virgil had cried and clung to them after their reunion, refusing to let them get too far from his line of sight. Patton hadn’t considered that Virgil would have been affected so much by their absence even though they had been the ones to raise him.

Patton ended up going back upstairs, not wanting to risk waking anyone. They all needed some good sleep. On the way to his room, he paused and glanced up to see the other rooms at the end of the hall. Thomas’s acceptance of the other sides had brought all their rooms together on the same hall. Patton couldn’t help himself, he moved further down and entered the nearest room.

This room had to have been Tristan’s room. There was a big bed against the wall with lots of blankets and stuffed animals. Studio Ghibli posters decorated the navy colored walls, and there were boxes on the shelves and the floor against the other wall. 

Patton peeked through some of them and saw they were memories. Playbills for auditions that Thomas had failed. Pictures of past relationships that hadn’t ended well. Programs for the funerals Thomas had attended. All of them were packed neatly in the boxes. 

The whole room was depressing. Dark colors and dim lights and the whole thing just felt suffocating. Patton quickly left after a moment, feeling the room starting to affect him.

The next room was Devlin’s. No other side would put holes in their walls or a half broken door.This room was more spartan. Not many decorations and a simple bed. But it was messy with dirty laundry and had its own boxes of memories. Patton didn’t bother looking through them, examining the massive punching bag that hung in the corner. Healthy coping mechanisms indeed...

The next room was Vixen’s. This room was the cleanest of the three. A large vanity table with a chic privacy screen sat against the wall, the bed was neatly made, and the posters on the walls...

Oh... those were people that Thomas had lusted over...

The memories weren’t boxed up, but were instead displayed in a case against the far wall. Bits of history where Thomas had made his way through adultry and discovered his sexuality, and the crown jewel was a massive rainbow flag that hung over the case. As Patton turned to leave, his breath caught in his throat. The back of Vixen’s door was covered in bloody scratches. Patton was quick to leave after seeing that.

Patton skipped Remus’s room, not daring to see what nightmares were in there.

Instead, he made his way to Juke’s room. This room... well it looked plain enough. There were multiple pictures on the wall, and Patton assumed them to be related to Thomas, but... these pictures were of the others. One frame held portraits of each side, from the proud looking Morey to the smiling kid Virgil. There was another picture that was a group photo of them all. Juke stood in the center, little Virgil shyly looking from his arms. Patton could feel the love in this photo. They had all loved and cared for each other so much.

On a shelf were two more pictures, accompanied by two lit candles. Patton saw they were pictures of Pan and Morey. His heart sank when he remembered what had happened to them. The memories in this room weren’t just of Thomas. There were bits of Juke’s family as well. Crayon drawings that had been made by Virgil and Remus, a stuffed animal that had been gifted by Tristan, A wooden sculpture carved by Devlin... and then there was a pile of silver rings that had belonged to Pan, a trophy that Morey had helped Thomas win...

They had been a loving family, and Patton had broken them apart. Patton sniffled, feeling tears in his eyes. Had he really been so wrong to do what he had done, even though Thomas had grown up to be a good person because of it? Patton had no idea. He would never know. But he couldn’t change the past. He could only try to fix things going forward.

And he knew what how to do that.

As Thomas’s most powerful side, he had the ability to change the Mindscape as needed. These rooms were full of ghosts and bad memories of being trapped. Patton would do what he could to bring some light into them. 

He would change them into rooms the others would like better as a show of welcoming them. Hopefully... this could help start the healing process...


	26. New Beginnings

Juke woke up and immediately sat up to look around.

He counted the number of people still asleep and sighed in relief. They were all still here. They hadn’t vanished in the night, it hadn’t all been just a dream. They were safe and home again.

Vixen mumbled in his sleep and tried to pull Juke down again. But Juke wanted to treat his children to a good breakfast. He was sure they hadn’t eaten while they were gone, and could use a good meal. Juke rearranged himself so that he could stand up and let Vixen grab onto Remus instead. The Duke growled at being disturbed, but settled down when he felt Vixen’s familiar fur coat.

With one last fond smile, Juke went to the kitchen to start cooking. He paused when he entered, staring at the new kitchen. It had been expanded quite a bit with much more counter space and more ovens to cook. There was even a bigger table with more chairs for them to eat. Juke chalked it up to Thomas’s acceptance of everyone. He’d worry about it later, he had breakfast to prepare.

Tristan woke up next. He reacted much the same way Juke had, looking around to make sure everyone was safe. He hugged his manatee plush tightly, smiling happily at all the sleeping people. He paused when he smelled something coming from the kitchen.

Pancakes.

Oh, but not just any pancakes, it was Juke’s famous peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes, Tristan’s favorite! Tristan slipped Mimi the manatee into Devlin’s now empty arm and walked into the kitchen, following the scent of big happiness.

Juke smiled as Tristan walked in. He made a beeline to the stack of pancakes and bit into one. He happily chewed before noticing Juke.

“Oh! Sorry... I’m just really hungry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Juke said, moving some bacon onto a plate. “I suspected you all would be, so I wanted to make a nice breakfast for everyone. Go ahead and fix yourself a plate and sit down. I suspect the others will be in here soon.”

Tristan did just that, happily chowing down on his syrup drenched pancakes. Virgil was the next to stumble in. He too paused and stared at the new kitchen, but he was too tired to worry about it. He took an omlette and some coffee, sitting next to Tristan and just quietly enjoying the other’s presence. 

Devlin was next, sleepily setting Mimi the Mantee aside so that he could eat.

“You would not believe how much I missed bacon,” he said, shoving three strips into his mouth at once. “Thanks for cooking, Juke. This smells fucking amazing.”

Vixen woke up next, but he wanted to change before eating breakfast. He yawned as he made his way upstairs. Thomas had mentioned how everyone’s room would now be on the same hall, but Vixen still paused when he reached his door.

His old door had been brown and old, but this door was white and looked new. His sign ‘Both Beauty and Beast’ still hung on it, so it was his room. Vixen hesitated before opening it. He really didn’t want to be in his room again after everything that had happened, but he didn’t want to keep sleeping in the living room either.

With a sigh, Vixen threw open the door. Best to rip it off like a bandaid-

He gasped.

This... was this his room? The room was a bigger with new white furniture and lavender painted walls. The carpet... oh, it was plush heaven. It felt good beneath Vixen’s bare feet. His vanity was still there, but the makeup brushes were all new. The posters on the walls had been neatly framed. There were flowers and plants on the shelves and dresser. His privacy screen now had paintings of flowers and peacocks.

And there were windows.

Two large windows that overlooked a sunny beach. Vixen walked over and opened one. His room was soon filled with the scent of ocean air. He examined the makeup brushes. They were amazing quality, and his pallettes had been refilled!

“Come on, Miss Mimi,” he heard a voice in the hall. “Time to go back to bed with your friends.”

Vixen made it to his door just in time to see Tristan open his. 

Tristan’s expression froze in shock. He slowly entered his room, and Vixen was quick to follow. 

Tristan’s room had changed as well. The walls were a soft seafoam green color, and the carpet was plush as well. His posters had also been framed, and a few more had been added. The new movies that he hadn’t been able to see yet... His furniture was all new as well, and he had a little closet to store the boxes in, leaving the room far more open.

He had windows as well. Two large ones near his bed, and then a large bay window complete with a window seat for him to lounge on. Unlike Vixen’s, his windows showed a forest full of green leaved trees and lots of flowers. They even saw a deer scamper by.

“Windows?” Tristan said in a small voice. “Windows!” His face lit up in a way that Vixen had never seen. He turned around and saw Vixen standing there. 

“Vixie! Vixie, look! I have windows now!” He pointed at them excitedly and opened one up. The ambiance of the forest could be heard, and the breeze smelled of honeysuckle. “I can’t believe it! My own windows! I love them so much!”

“What’s taking you guys so long?” Devlin took that moment to enter. He too seemed surprised by Tristan’s room. Tristan was laughing and nearly crying in his joy, jumping up and down like a child on Christmas.

“Hey Tristan, why don’t you go tell Juke about your new room?” Devlin suddenly said. Tristan nodded and carefully set Mimi the Manatee on his bed before he rushed out. Devlin gave Vixen a look.

“Is it just his?” He asked.

“Mine was changed too,” said Vixen. “Your might be too. And there’s only one who could have done it.”

Devlin nodded. He flicked his wrist and summoned Patton. The fatherly side looked exhausted, still dressed in his rumpled clothes. He hadn’t bothered to change out of his pajamas, obviously.

But his exhaustion vanished when he saw who had summoned him.

“H-hey,” He said nervously. “Um... good morning? Do you... do you like your new rooms?”

Vixen folded his arms and fixed Patton with a look.

“Let’s have a chat,” he said. “I’ll make this quick because I frankly still cannot stand being in your presence.”

“Same,” Devlin said. Patton looked terrified as he glanced between the two.

“I want you to know that we’ll never forgive you for what you did to us and our family,” said Vixen. “Ever. However, Thomas wants us all to work together and we do want to do our part in helping him. So... we will be civil in your presence, but it’s going to be a long long road before become any kind of friendly with you. And friends is probably going to be the best relationship we’ll ever have. If we ever get to that point.”

Patton swallowed nervously and nodded.

“I... I don’t blame you,” he said. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I never should have split us all up. I never should have locked you away, and I wish I could take it all back. I can’t... I can’t change the past, but... I would like to try to right my wrongs. I ch-changed your rooms because I wanted you to have better ones. I wanted you to feel welcome and at home, and... I wanted to try to make you happy. I know it’s going to be hard, and I understand if we never have any sort of relationship, but... I want you to know that I want to help. If you ever need anything... I’ll be here for you.”

He waited to see their reaction, nervously glancing between them.

Vixen pursed his lips. He hated this. He hated what had happened. And he hated how he knew that Patton hadn’t done this out of any desire to hurt them. He’d been naive, he’d been blinded, he’d been wrong... but he hadn’t been malicious.

“We’ll see what the future holds,” he finally said. “But things aren’t going to magically change overnight. For now, we’re just here to help Thomas. If anything else comes from it, then so be it. But for now... we’ll be civil.”

“Just don’t step out of line again,” Devlin said. His words were rough, but there was no growl to them. “Otherwise, this all goes down the toilet.”

Patton nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I understand. Th-thank you for giving me this chance. I won’t let you down!”

And when Thomas woke up that morning, he felt as if a heavy burden had been removed from his heart...

The End!


	27. Author's Note

Hey guys!

I want to take a moment to thank all of my readers. This is the first multichapter story I’ve been able to finish. The first one that didn’t wander off to die in the WIP wasteland. And I’m so glad I got to share it with you all. 

Even though it’s finished, we don’t have to say goodbye. I still have my blog at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com. Don’t be afraid to come say hi. Share your thoughts, ask me questions, or just come hang out.

Anyway, this story is finished so it’s all over, right?

WRONG!

Healing doesn’t take place overnight, and you guys will get to see them all work through their traumas and inner demons in the sequel To Repair a Broken Bridge.

I dunno when I will post the first chapter, but hopefully it will be soon.

Thanks again to everyone and I hope you all enjoyed this story. Have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this story, please comment. Also, if anyone wants to make fanart or share the links for this fic, you are all welcome to do so. I also have a tumblr blog that you can come hang out on at beautiful-doom.tumblr.com


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